Residence

I'm thinking about how the residence permits work in our country. Hear about the case abroad, where authorities hunt right on people, keep them, move them from city to city so as to obstruct the process of obtaining a residence permit. I think it's awful, poor people get to experience this.
For the persons involved if it is essential to security, to know where they live, to know they have a job to go to (for example, to support their parents, etc.). There are many people in the affected vicinity who will feel bad because of the circumstances, that is, the uncertainty of not knowing.
I'm actually surprised to hear this, did not believe that the authorities can treat people that way. What I mean is that they reside in a country and that they are doing the right thing. To top it all, they have been residents for several years. I just wonder how this is possible? But on the other hand, it is not Sweden, but still.