Encouraging immigrants and asylum seekers to leave Sweden and return to their home countries has become a priority for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s government. Since coming to power in 2022, the government, backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats party, has promised to reduce the number of foreigners living in the Nordic country, through several controversial measures.
Last week, the new immigration minister, Johan Forssell, accompanied by representatives of the rest of the conservative coalition and a spokesman for the far right, presented a plan to increase payments to immigrants to encourage them to leave the country.
The government has proposed that foreigners who voluntarily give up their residence permits in Sweden could receive compensation of up to 350,000 Swedish kronor (30,000 euros). This proposal was one of the main demands of the Sweden Democrats party in support of Kristersson and was already included in the agreements by which the coalition was created two years ago.
Forssell explained that the measure was aimed at immigrants “who perceive that life in Sweden has not gone as they wanted, who are stuck and alienated or who are older and want to return to their home country.” The immigration chief declined to give details on the precise number of people the government estimates could leave Sweden thanks to the incentive, which will come into effect from January 1, 2026. He did, however, detail the conditions that must be met. To apply for the aid: the person must be in Sweden legally and with a valid residence permit, granted in the form of a work permit, a family reunification permit or through international protection status (refugee).
The Nordic country’s authorities have said they will allocate 1.4 billion Swedish crowns (122 million euros) to the plan’s budget, meaning that up to 4,000 people could receive the maximum stipulated amount. Currently, there is already a subsidy of 10,000 Swedish crowns (870 euros) provided by the Migration Agency to people who want to return to their home country with the intention of starting a new life. However, so far, the Swedish executive’s efforts in terms of information campaigns to encourage the return of migrants have failed miserably.
According to public broadcaster SVT, last year, only one person was granted assistance, while the program received a total of 70 applications. Most were rejected because the applicants did not meet criteria, such as no income, no debts in Sweden and possession of a valid passport from their home country. In the last ten years, only 46 people have received assistance to voluntarily return to their place of origin.
Against the advice of experts
The proposal to encourage the return of immigrants quickly became controversial. In October 2023, the current government commissioned migration experts to conduct research to find new ways to increase the number of people leaving the Nordic country. The results were presented last August, and the experts’ conclusion contradicts the measure presented today.
The report was commissioned by Joakim Ruist, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg, who had previously controversially estimated that refugees arriving in Sweden represented a net loss to the country’s economy of 74,000 kroner per person per year (€6,500). But last August, Ruist concluded that increasing aid to encourage migrants to return was a completely unwise measure.
The report argues that a large increase in the state budget would be necessary for this initiative to produce tangible effects. At the same time, the document that should guide the Executive in drafting the legislation warned that the risks of the measure were much greater because they went against the integration of immigrants: “A subsidy for emigration justified in order to benefit the public finances” This sends a signal to the group targeted by the subsidy (immigrants) that they are not welcome in Sweden, to the point that Sweden is prepared to pay large sums to get rid of some of them, “the report concludes. Likewise, opposition political groups have also spoken out strongly against the measure.
From the Centre Party, his immigration spokesman, Jonny Cato, said he was “incredibly surprised that the government wants to go ahead with a proposal that the experts in the Executive consider bad for integration and which risks spreading racism.” society.”
Inspired by Denmark
In defense of the measure, Ulf Kristersson claims that it would save 200 million Swedish crowns per year (17 million euros) and that it is also a model inspired by the migration policies implemented in Denmark for years.
In the neighbouring country, a person over 18 can receive up to 220,000 crowns (19,000 euros) to return to their home country, plus an additional financial aid of 50,000 crowns (4,400 euros) to take their furniture and household goods with them. According to the Swedish newspaper Daily NewsIn Denmark, between 300 and 500 people leave each year thanks to this aid.
In an interview with elDiario.es, the legal advisor of the organization Civil Rights Defenders, Martin Nyman, predicts the little effectiveness that the measure will have in Sweden: “In cases where the countries of origin are not safe, increasing the money for repatriation is not an incentive. “We would prefer to see measures aimed at improving integration, rather than continuing with proposals that experts describe as harmful,” he adds.
According to Nyman, this proposal “combined with the government’s policies to restrict family reunification and international refugee protection, only sends a signal that there are people who are not welcome in Sweden and makes it more difficult for them to rebuild their country.” lives and is part of society.
