The Swedish government is significantly increasing the money for the voluntary return of migrants to their countries of origin. From 2026, they will receive a bonus of up to 30,000 euros if they are willing to voluntarily leave the country. The measure was announced this week by the country's conservative government, which wants to reduce the number of migrants entering the country, but also increase the number of those leaving it.
Serious increase in amounts
From 2026, every migrant who voluntarily decides to leave Sweden will receive 350,000 Swedish kronor (about 30,000 euros) from the state. Until now, these bonuses were significantly lower: up to 10,000 kronor (880 euros) and 5,000 kronor (440 euros) per child, and the maximum amount a family could receive was 40,000 kronor (about 3,500 euros).
The migration policy spokesman for the far-right Sweden Democrats, which is pushing for tougher measures against refugees, argued the measure as follows: “We see this measure as a last resort in integration policy. If nothing else works, and these people cannot find a job and do not integrate, then we should make them an offer to return home.“
In the footsteps of Denmark
In front of the ARD, the Swedish political scientist Andrea Spehar from the University of Gothenburg says on this occasion: “The government and the party ‘Sweden Democrats‘ are trying to create an extremely restrictive system for integration and migration and are thus going the way of Denmark“.
In Denmark, high bonuses are also paid to migrants for voluntarily leaving the country, but the effect of this is minimal: the number of people returning to their home countries has increased by only 100-200 people per year, the German publication points out. In this regard, it quotes Swedish economist and author of a report on the expected effect of the increase in the premium, Joachim Ruist, who says that this money is unlikely to encourage significantly more people to leave the country. "There will be some effect, but it will not be large enough to be considered significant," ARD quotes him as saying.
Sweden is no longer a "paradise for immigrants"
Ruist expects no more than 700 people a year to benefit from the new premium in Sweden. According to him, however, this money could also send a bad message to the remaining immigrants in Sweden: "You are so unwanted that we are willing to pay to get rid of you. And this will certainly reduce their motivation for integration, he emphasizes.
At the peak of the refugee crisis in 2015 Sweden has taken in more migrants per capita than any other country in Europe. The message now is this: Sweden is no longer the immigration haven it once was. Refugees are no longer welcome here, ARD commented.
The Netherlands is also tightening migration legislation
The Netherlands has chosen a different path to limit the number of asylum seekers. Moreover, Migration Minister Mariolein Faber has declared a “state of emergency” to limit the number of asylum seekers entering the country. On this occasion, DPA wrote that the measure aims to make the Netherlands "as unattractive as possible" for migrants.
The country wants to introduce stricter border controls, limit family reunification, speed up the deportation of asylum seekers who have committed crimes, and limit the possibilities for appealing court decisions. The government intends to ask the European Commission for permission to deviate from European asylum and migration policy.
Tightening anti-immigration legislation is one of the priorities of the new right-wing government in The Hague, in which the radical right-wing Party of Freedom of right-wing populist Geert Wilders participates for the first time, ARD recalls.
Authors: Julia Weschenbach ARD, Ludger Kazmirczak ARD