After opening its border to migrants, Sweden is offering them $61K to leave
Sweden is prepared to offer migrants up to $61,000 to leave, according to a proposal unveiled on Wednesday.
Under the proposal, the government would offer migrants SEK 350,000 ($35,974) to leave the European Union and resettle in select countries. Couples would receive SEK 500,000 ($50,933), in addition to SEK 25,000 ($2,490) per child. Payments would be capped at SEK 600,000 ($61,134) per family. These amounts are a major increase from the SEK 40,000 ($4,164) currently being offered, which went to just one migrant in 2023.
“This is about giving people who feel excluded or who haven’t found a place in Swedish society the opportunity for a dignified return and a new beginning elsewhere,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell told Swedish media. “But this won’t be a free ticket. If they return to Sweden, they’ll be required to pay the money back.”
As noted by The Gateway Pundit, most migrants to Sweden come from Islamic countries and depend heavily on government welfare. They also have low assimilation rates.
“Today, there are a large number of people who immigrated to Sweden but who for various reasons have failed to become part of the Swedish community despite being here for a long time,” said Swedish Democrat migration policy spokesperson Ludvig Aspling. “Our starting point is that in this case, it is best to return to your home country, as long-term exclusion entails very high costs for society. Financial support for this purpose can increase both the incentives for return and the opportunities for re-establishment upon returning home.”
Riches to rags
In 2014, Sweden began accepting waves of migrants as a show of “humanitarianism.” Rather than require the newcomers to assimilate, then-Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told native Swedes to be more tolerant and “open their hearts.” A year later, the country allowed an unprecedented 163,000 asylum seekers to stream across its border.
Around 20% of Sweden’s population is now made up of migrants, most of whom come from Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. As in other countries, the migrant influx has brought with it a spike in crime and gang violence.
In 2003, Sweden had one of the lowest gun violence rates per capita in Europe. In 2022, the number of per capita gun murders was 30 times higher than London’s. Last year, Sweden experienced nine times as many deadly shootings as its fellow Nordic countries — Denmark, Norway, and Finland — combined.
In 2018, there was an average of one bomb explosion every two days. In Malmö, Sweden’s third most populated city, there were 29 bombings in the first 10 months of 2019 alone.
Three out of four murders in Sweden are now committed by migrants, who are 2.5 times more likely to be crime suspects than Swedish natives. Even among the Swedes, those with migrant parents are three times more likely to be crime suspects than Swedes with Swedish-born parents, according to the Swedish Crime Prevention Council.
Gang violence has also become prevalent in Sweden. As published in The Gold Report, one Iraqi native who lived in Sweden for 20 years fled back to his home country to escape the heavy crime rates.
“I moved to Sweden because it was a safe country. Now, I’m moving out of Sweden because it’s no longer safe,” the restaurateur, identified as Amin, said, adding: “It is much safer in Iraq than in Sweden.”
Censorship
The mass influx of migrants has also restricted freedom of expression in Sweden. Rasmus Paludan burned a Quran in 2020 and sparked violent riots. In 2022, when Paludan threatened to repeat the act, rioters injured over 180 police officers in rampages.
In a similar case, a professor named Lars Vilks received 24/7 police protection after he drew a cartoon in 2007 that featured a dog with the face of Mohammed. A bounty was placed on his head and he was eventually killed in 2021 along with two policemen.
Elites, including political and religious leaders, were quick to condem Vilks for “Islamophobia” over the cartoon and accuse him of intolerance toward Muslims.
“Freedom of expression in our country is under relentless pressure from certain migrant groups trying to have it dismantled for the benefit of multicultural ‘tolerance’,” the report noted, adding that the migrants are not bringing freedom-oriented values with them.
“If Sweden suddenly were to harbour a substantial French minority, we would soon have plenty of red wine and chansons; and so, when our country experiences a large influx of individuals from regions with no democratic tradition and without freedom of expression, we will soon experience attacks against our freedom of expression.”
