Sweden Democrats’ bus ads have been removed from public buses in Skaraborg after around 20 drivers of Somali origin called in sick in protest against a campaign message referring to Mogadishu and Sweden’s repatriation grant. Regional transport operator Västtrafik said the advertisements posed risks to the working environment and possible vandalism. The decision comes less than a month before Sweden’s general election on 13 September.
Sweden Democrats’ bus ads targeted people with links to Somalia
The advertisement by the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna, SD) carried the message: “Do you miss Mogadishu? The repatriation grant helps you go home.”
According to Sveriges Radio, around 20 bus drivers in Skaraborg, all originally from Somalia, called in sick after the ads appeared on public transport. The drivers used their absence as a protest against the campaign.
The advertisements were initially approved by Västtrafik, the public transport authority operating across Västra Götaland, including Skaraborg. The company subsequently decided to remove them.
Västtrafik told SVT that it had made an incorrect assessment when it first approved the campaign because it had not anticipated the consequences for drivers.
Maria Björner Brauer, a manager at Västtrafik, told Sveriges Radio that there was a risk to the working environment and of vandalism, and that the operator’s advertising rules allow campaigns to be stopped when such risks arise.
The campaign referred to Sweden’s increased repatriation grant
The message referred to Sweden’s voluntary repatriation grant (återvandringsbidrag), which was substantially increased at the beginning of 2026.
Since 1 January, eligible adults who voluntarily move permanently from Sweden to their country of origin, or another country where they have the right to live, can receive up to SEK 350,000 (€31,800) each. The maximum is SEK 500,000 for married or cohabiting couples and SEK 600,000 per household.
According to the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), the scheme is available under specific conditions to people legally residing in Sweden who received residence permits on certain protection-related grounds.
The government presented the higher payments as a way to strengthen incentives for voluntary repatriation. The previous grant was considerably lower, and the reform formed part of the Swedish government’s broader migration policy.
SD calls Västtrafik’s decision censorship
The removal prompted criticism from senior Sweden Democrats in the region.
Tobias Andersson, a member of the Riksdag and SD’s district chairman in Skaraborg, accused Västtrafik of giving in to pressure and described the decision as censorship.
After the announcement, Andersson wrote on X that it appeared Somali bus drivers were being allowed to determine what could be communicated during a Swedish election campaign.
Another regional SD politician, Håkan Lösnitz, went further, describing the decision as “election sabotage” and arguing that the transport company’s management should be held accountable.
Västtrafik has rejected the idea that it is generally entitled to censor political messages. The operator said advertisers must be treated equally, but that all campaigns also have to comply with its rules, including requirements intended to protect staff and the working environment.
The dispute comes in the middle of Sweden’s election campaign
The controversy has emerged during the final weeks before Sweden’s elections to the Riksdag, regional councils and municipal councils, which will take place on 13 September 2026.
Migration remains one of the areas in which the Sweden Democrats seek to distinguish themselves from the other parties on the Swedish right. The campaign around the repatriation grant turns a policy already adopted at national level into a deliberately direct election message aimed at voters concerned with immigration and integration.
The dispute in Skaraborg therefore goes beyond one advertising campaign. It has also opened a debate over where political advertising ends and an employer’s responsibility for its workers begins, at a particularly sensitive point in the Swedish election campaign.
