Sweden will review ways to increase what it calls ‘voluntary return,’ Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard announced on Wednesday, March 1st, Euractiv reported. However, the long-term effectiveness of this policy has yet to be proven.
The minister reportedly tasked the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) to assess different strategies to increase migrants’ willingness to voluntarily return to their countries of origin. “Return has been a poorly treated area in Swedish politics,” she said, explaining that there wasn’t enough research on such policies done by the Board before. “We want to see a change in this area.”
Stenergard also noted that the policies would primarily target large immigrant groups who arrived in the country in the past decades and failed to properly integrate into Swedish society. Integration—or the lack thereof—is a constant talking point in Swedish public discourse, as one in five people in Sweden was born abroad.
Last month, an op-ed published by the Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers (ECR) and MP Ludvig Aspling (SD) argued that Sweden’s failed integration experiment should be a warning sign for the rest of the European Union. The article underlined the fundamental problems of the country’s past migration policies:
“Firstly, we know that the higher the number of migrants in a given place, the more difficult they will be to integrate. And those that fail to integrate, tend to congregate and form impoverished crime-ridden, religiously intolerant ethnic enclaves, such as Molenbeek, parts of Malmö, and the banlieues of Paris.
Secondly, we know that material prosperity is what drives migrants to Europe (and makes them avoid the materially poorer parts of the Union). The [current policies] focus on raising the migrants’ material standard of living through tax-financed housing, jobs, and leisure activities. [This] risks attracting more migrants, which doesn’t square with the objective of integration.”
According to government officials, voluntary return policies would primarily mean financial assistance covering the relocation expenses of those who would want to return, as well as spreading information about the possibilities and support they can get while starting anew back home. Long-term financial incentives are also among the options, Aspling, the Swedish Democrats’ migration spokesman explained. “This could involve education or paying for children to attend school. It depends very much on the conditions in the different countries,” he said.
Opposition members in the Swedish parliament generally doubt the initiative’s long-term effectiveness and argue that such policies would only serve as a sinkhole for taxpayers’ funds. Nevertheless, the government is determined to move forward, starting with a study into how voluntary return could be best stimulated through financial incentives and other types of support.
Voluntary return migration is not the only alternative the Swedish government is exploring to decrease migration into the country. Last month, Stockholm launched an extensive global campaign aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the country. It involved “targeted communication” to foreign editorial offices, news agencies, and foreign embassies in Sweden.
The renewed push to explore alternative solutions to Sweden’s migration problem is part of the country’s recent paradigm shift regarding the issue. The change of heart came after last year’s parliamentary elections, in which the anti-migration Swedish Democrats won the most seats, although the chance to form a government was handed to the runner-up Moderates. Nonetheless, the results clearly show what the voters expect from the government on the migration front.
“This government was elected, among other things, on a mandate to create a paradigm shift in migration policy,” Minister Stenergard said, explaining the push behind the voluntary return. “This requires many major changes.”
