Sweden To Pay Immigrants $34,000 To Return Home

Government of Sweden announced on Thursday, September 12, that it will significantly raise incentives for immigrants who opt to leave the country and return home, in order to encourage more migrants to do so.

Immigrants who willingly return to their home countries could receive up to 350,000 Swedish kronor ($34,000), according to the right-wing administration, which is supported by the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, at a press conference.

“We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in our migration policy,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell told reporters.

At the moment, immigrants are eligible to receive a maximum of 10,000 kronor for each adult and 5,000 kronor for each kid, up to 40,000 kronor for each family.

“The grant has been around since 1984, but it is relatively unknown, it is small and relatively few people use it,” Ludvig Aspling of the Sweden Democrats told reporters.

Aspling went on to say that more people would probably accept the offer if they were made aware of the offer and its larger amount.

The declaration was made in spite of a government-commissioned investigation that concluded last month that there was no reason to significantly increase the grant amount because the anticipated benefits did not outweigh the possible expenses.

After assuming office in 2022 as the prime minister of the Conservative Party, Ulf Kristersson made a commitment to combat crime and immigration.

His minority coalition government was supported by the Sweden Democrats, who finished as the second-largest party in Sweden with 20.5% of the vote in the general election.

Since the 1990s, Sweden has welcomed a huge number of migrants, the majority of whom come from conflict-ridden countries such as the former Yugoslavia, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, and Iraq.

However, the Nordic countries have struggled for many years to assimilate immigrants.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli