The Government of Sweden has said asylum claims into the country have reduced in number by 26%, after the current administration began toughening rules on immigration, and that the number of asylum claims across the EU has risen by 30% in the same timespan.
In an op-ed penned by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson, Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch, and Minister for Employment Johan Pehrson, members of the Swedish parliament outlined their efforts to “reduce the driving forces” of those who come to the country to ‘benefit from its welfare system’, while properly integrating those already there.
Since 2012, 770,000 migrants from outside the European Union and European Economic Area have migrated to Sweden. They have been met with what the government described as “an integration policy almost entirely without requirements and incentives to integrate into society.”
This, they say, has resulted in a “divided Sweden” which is experiencing unprecedented levels of gang crime amid a “deteriorating security situation, energy crisis and inflation” while facing “the worst economic development since the 90s, with the lowest growth in the entire EU and the fourth highest unemployment rate.”
Lack of integration among large numbers of immigrants was flagged as a driving factor behind poor academic results, segregation, and unemployment.
This the government says has led to a “lack of common Swedish values” in the country.
Among the new tougher measures are increased incentives to move benefit claimants to employment and new requirements to gain proficiency in the Swedish language.
The government says these measures have made it clearer that those who immigrate to Sweden are expected to contribute and to become part of Swedish society, saying that those who can work should not be able to “live passively on benefits” but are expected to make themselves available for “full-time activation.”
It emphasized that non-citizens and newcomers should not be allowed to “stack” benefits on top of each other in such a way as to financially disincentive work.
The government also said that those “newcomers” who arrive in Sweden should not have immediate access to the welfare system in the same way as Swedish citizens but should “have to qualify by integrating and working step by step.”
The government said it is now appointing an inquiry to review how these qualifications should be set out in detail saying the move is “ above all about introducing reasonable requirements for new arrivals and non-citizens to take part in social security benefits and financial assistance, which includes housing allowance, child allowance, parental allowance, sickness benefit and subsistence allowance” adding that the current situation where all residents are often entitled to “all benefits at once” is no longer tenable.
“As you work, pay taxes and have permanent legal residence, you should then be able to qualify, that is, be able to take part in the benefits that fully come with citizenship. In addition to work, approved participation in courses in Swedish and social orientation can also be a basis for receiving benefits and grants.”
Last month Sweden, along with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway agreed upon a joint initiative supported by European border control agency Frontex to deport illegal immigrants.
As Gript previously reported representatives of the five nations met in Copenhagen where they agreed upon three initiatives focused on “strengthening reintegration projects in countries of origin, coordinating joint Nordic return operations in collaboration with Frontex and providing assistance to stranded irregular migrants in North Africa, who wish to voluntary return to their own countries.”
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