The number of migrants granted asylum in Sweden dropped to the lowest level in 40 years in 2024 after a years-long crackdown on immigration under a succession of Governments. The Mail has the story.
Sweden stunned the world by taking in nearly 163,000 asylum seekers during the 2015 migrant crisis – the highest number per capita of any EU country.
But following a dramatic policy reversal, just 6,250 asylum-related residence permits were granted in the Scandinavian country last year, according to Migration Minister Johan Forssell, who cited fresh statistics from the Migration Agency.
That figure does not include Ukrainians, who have been granted temporary protection throughout the European Union.
The number of people who applied for asylum in Sweden in 2024 was 9,645, the lowest since 1996 and down by 42% since 2022.
The huge influx of migrants in 2015 onwards made it impossible to effectively integrate all of the new arrivals, Mr. Forssell has now said, with insufficient housing, schools and work opportunities.
This prompted successive Left and Right-wing governments to tighten rules around asylum, with the most hardline immigration policies coming in following the landmark 2022 election.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s centre-Right minority Government, propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, brought in a sweeping package of reforms.
Recent measures introduced to reduce migration include the granting of only temporary residence permits to asylum seekers, tighter family reunification requirements and raising income requirements for work visas for non-EU citizens.
The current Government has also announced plans to offer immigrants $34,000 to leave the country, and to make it easier to expel migrants for substance abuse, association with criminal groups or statements threatening ‘Swedish values’.
Mr. Forssell, who has overseen the crackdown since he took up his office in September 2022, told reporters: “While the number of asylum seekers is historically low, the number being granted asylum is also low.
“Today, three out of four people seeking asylum in Sweden are not considered to have sufficient grounds to be granted residency. They are therefore not refugees, and they must return home,” he said.
Mr. Forssell noted that Sweden’s low levels stood out, with the number of asylum seekers in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland topping one million last year, nearing the level seen during the 2015 migrant crisis.
He said Sweden would need to continue to keep its numbers down in the coming years. …
Family reunifications have been tightened, residency permits are more easily revoked and asylum rights have been slashed to the bare minimum allowed under EU law.
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