[8] On or about 27 January 2016, Eliasson sparked controversy in Sweden and beyond by appearing to sympathize with a "teenage" Somalian asylum-seeker accused of having murdered social worker Alexandra Mezher in Mölndal, a suburban community near Gothenburg.

[9] Later, it emerged that the killer was not under 18 and possibly not even a teenager, but had lied about his age in order to receive favourable treatment when claiming asylum.

[13] In October 2017 Eliasson was interviewed by SR Ekot where he was queried about his promise in May 2015[14] to regain control in areas of Sweden with high crime rates.

[15] He stated that two years earlier he had not predicted police resources would be saturated by migration, gang shootings, serious crime and terrorism to the degree that was the case.

[15] The reason for this inaccurate prediction was that policy makers including himself had not realised the full extent of the problems because they did not fit in the popular image of Sweden as a safe and prosperous country.

In late December 2020, after the Civil Contingencies Agency urged all Swedes to avoid travel, he was photographed in Las Palmas airport on the island of Gran Canaria whilst on a family Christmas holiday.

[20][21] On 21 January, the government offices announced that Eliasson would be appointed Director-General of the Division for Crisis Preparedness under the Ministry of Justice, the principal authority of the Civil Contingencies Agency.