Sweden to hire planes to return 80,000 migrants

Sweden plans to charter aircraft to send back as many as 80,000 rejected asylum seekers in what the country’s interior minister is calling “a very big challenge”.

Interior minister Anders Ygeman told Sweden’s Dagens Industri newspaper that he believed that at least 60,000, and possibly as many as 80,000 of the 163,000 who sought asylum in Sweden last year would have their applications rejected, meaning they will be returned either to their home countries or to the European country responsible under EU rules. 

“The first step will be to go with voluntary return, and to create the best conditions for that,” Ygeman said. “But if that doesn’t work, we will need to have returns backed up by force.” 

“I think we will have to see more chartered planes, particularly in the EU-region.”

He said that the Swedish government hoped to strike deals with other EU countries — in particular Germany — over coordinating flights to return asylum seekers. 

It is also seeking return agreements with countries such as Afghanistan and Morocco. 

The Swedish government sees “a significant risk” that large numbers of rejected asylum seekers will attempt to stay without papers, and intends to hire 1,000 additional border police, and deter businesses from employ those who have had their applications refused. 

“There need to be severe consequences for those companies which use illegal labour. If there’s a well-developed illegal labour market, that will make the incentive to stay in Sweden stronger,” Ygeman said. 

Patrik Engström, head of Sweden’s border police, told Dagens Industri that his officers would from now on be working “much more intensively” on returning rejected applicants.

“We need to work much more closely with the Migration Agency. It’s at the point where people are passed over from the Agency to the police where many disappear. By the time they hear the decision on their claim, police personnel need to already be in place.” 

Immigration lawyer Terfa Nisébini criticised Ygeman’s plan, saying that by giving an estimate that roughly half of applications would be rejected, telling Expressen newspaper that it risked influencing the way the Swedish Migration Agency assesses cases

Source http://www.thelocal.se/20160128/sweden-to-hire-planes-to-send-back-80000-migrants