STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s center-right government said on Friday it planned to make all asylum seekers live in migrant reception centers while their cases are processed, in a further tightening of immigration regulations.
People will have to prove that they have moved to the centers, or risk losing their benefits, and also agree to travel restrictions, Migration Minister Johan Forssell told reporters.
Successive governments have tightened immigration policies since 2015 when around 160,000 asylum seekers sought refuge in Sweden. The issue has driven the rise of anti-immigration parties across Europe and is likely to be a key factor in Sweden’s parliamentary elections in September.
“People who are in the system will have to live with the Migration Agency ... I want to stress that these aren’t prisons,” Forssell said.
He said the current law, which allows asylum seekers to choose their own living arrangements, had led to problems with overcrowding, social exclusion and made it easier for people to stay in Sweden illegally.
The number of asylum applications had dropped to around 10,000 by 2024.
But the current minority coalition, backed by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, says even more needs to be done to cut numbers coming to Sweden.
It has blamed decades of what it sees as unrestricted immigration for a surge in gang crime in recent years.
Under the new proposal, which the government hopes will come into force in October, asylum seekers who fail to comply could also have their applications automatically withdrawn.
People whose cases have been rejected would also have to register their whereabouts on a regular basis to prevent them going underground.
Sweden to make asylum seekers live in centers in further tightening of rules
https://arab.news/9989a
Sweden to make asylum seekers live in centers in further tightening of rules
- Successive governments have tightened immigration policies since 2015 when around 160,000 asylum seekers sought refuge in Sweden
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
