Sweden to deport up to 80,000 asylum seekers
Sweden is reportedly planning to deport up to 80,000 of recently arrived asylum seekers who came to the country through last year’s mass influx of refugees from Syria and elsewhere into Europe.
Sweden's Interior Minister Anders Ygeman confirmed this on Thursday in an interview with Sweden’s business newspaper Dagens Industri. He estimated that of the 163,000 newly arrived persons in Sweden seeking asylum as part of the migration crisis some 60-80,000 will either have to leave voluntarily in the near future or be forcibly deported.
"We have a big challenge ahead of us. We will need to use more resources for this and we must have better cooperation between authorities," Ygeman said according to Reuters.
His comments come after the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, promised the country's police force more resources to help them deal with the situation. Sweden hitherto had an open doors policy when it came to immigration and those seeking asylum. However the large numbers coming into the country in recent months have made this an untenable policy and they have accordingly introduced stricter border controls.
Stockholm also fears that many asylum seekers presently in Sweden may go into hiding to avoid being deported.
Sweden's Interior Minister Anders Ygeman confirmed this on Thursday in an interview with Sweden’s business newspaper Dagens Industri. He estimated that of the 163,000 newly arrived persons in Sweden seeking asylum as part of the migration crisis some 60-80,000 will either have to leave voluntarily in the near future or be forcibly deported.
"We have a big challenge ahead of us. We will need to use more resources for this and we must have better cooperation between authorities," Ygeman said according to Reuters.
His comments come after the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, promised the country's police force more resources to help them deal with the situation. Sweden hitherto had an open doors policy when it came to immigration and those seeking asylum. However the large numbers coming into the country in recent months have made this an untenable policy and they have accordingly introduced stricter border controls.
Stockholm also fears that many asylum seekers presently in Sweden may go into hiding to avoid being deported.