America News Agency

The centre-right coalition, backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats, has announced a nine-month investigation into the implementation of a national begging ban and said that if deemed viable, such a ban could become law.

At a press conference on Monday, Linda Lindberg, leader of the xenophobic Sweden Democrats group, attacked people she claimed had come from other EU countries to "beg outside our shops". She said Sweden could not act as "the conscience of Europe".

But Stockholms Stadsmission, a Christian social organisation that works with vulnerable people in the capital, condemned the move. "Banning begging or requiring permission to beg is just a futile attempt to outlaw poverty and simply shifting the problem elsewhere," spokeswoman Fanny Siltberg said.

Aida Samani, deputy legal director of the human rights group Civil Rights Defenders, said the government could face legal action if it accepts the proposal.

"It is striking that the government is prioritising this in what they describe as a crisis of organised and violent crime," she said. "Then there is the question of the legality of a ban. As I see it, a national ban on begging would probably not be legal."

She added that banning begging would violate the right to privacy and freedom of expression, as enshrined in the Swedish constitution under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The government said begging had risen in Sweden since the early 2010s. But Samani questioned the extent to which begging was a problem for the country.

Civil Rights Defenders said it would monitor the situation and could launch a legal challenge if it became law.

Samani said the proposed begging ban was part of a general shift towards "more repressive policies" in criminal and immigration policy and a "disregard for human rights and freedoms".