Gulf News

Sweden asylum requests set to drop 80% in 2016

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Asylum seeker numbers in Sweden are set to drop by around 80 per cent this year from a record 163,000 in 2015 as a result of tighter borders and tougher immigratio­n rules, a government agency said yesterday.

Sweden took in more asylum seekers than any other European Union state relative to population last year. But even many liberal Swedes are having second thoughts, put off by reports of crime including sexual assaults by asylum seekers and financial strains on the nation’s prized cradle-to-grave welfare system.

In a fresh forecast, the state Migration Agency said it expected Sweden to receive 28,000 to 32,000 asylum applicatio­ns this year. Its previous forecast from July was 30,000 to 50,000.

Factors in the reduced numbers include the EU’s deal with Turkey curbing migration from that nation’s shores, border clampdowns along the main Balkan corridor to EU territory and the reimpositi­on of selective identity checks at borders within the EU’s Schengen passport-free travel zone, it said.

“… it has become harder to travel into and through Europe to reach Sweden”, a Migration Agency statement said. Other EU countries including Germany also report a sharp fall in migrant arrivals from the more than one million registered in 2015.

Sweden’s reputation for tolerance and stability made it a haven for refugees for decades. But the mood has changed since 2015 with many Swedes unnerved by reports of rising foreigner crime including gang activity in immigrant-heavy cities.

In addition, soaring costs — spending on immigratio­n and asylum measures will account for around 7 per cent of the budget this year — are seen by many as a threat to the welfare net. Tougher rules introduced by the centre-left coalition last year, including border checks and limits on family reunion, have cut numbers — and costs — dramatical­ly. So now they send several boats at the same time and that puts rescue services in difficulty because they need to rescue several thousand people on several hundred boats,” he said.

“But when you have so many people at sea on boats that are barely seaworthy, then the dangers obviously increase.”

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