Refugee espionage, the act of spying on individuals to gather information for a foreign state, is illegal in Sweden. In this study, this phenomenon is considered part of transnational repression, an increasing threat against primarily dissidents posed by authoritarian states. 

By using the method of qualitative content analysis on texts from the Swedish parliament and four large Swedish newspapers, the study attempts to answer questions about the debate on refugee espionage in the Swedish parliament and media. The timespan ranges from 2014- 2023. How do debaters talk about sovereignty and national security in relation to refugee espionage? Do debaters discuss the digital dimension: the opportunities, and risks from digital technology, in relation to refugee espionage? 

The theoretical perspective is based on Lucas Kello’s cybertheory in international relations, on how cyberspace alters relations between states and has the possibility of expanding and enhancing ways to perform espionage. 

Results reveal that debaters see refugee espionage as a threat to both Swedish sovereignty and national security. However, the debate rarely touches on concerns with digital technology as a mean to use refugee espionage against a state.