The Swedish government has offered $34,000 to immigrants who voluntarily decides to return to their home countries.
According to the government, the decision to offer the grant was taken to encourage more immigrants to leave the country as the government has been facing difficulties integrating immigrants into the country’s system.
Presently the Swedish system allows adult immigrants to receive up to 10,000 kronor while each child can receive 5,000 kronor 40,000 kronor per family.
However, the latest move was propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden democrats who want to see a reduction in the number of immigrants in the country.
“We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in our migration policy,” says Migration Minister Johan Forssell.
Ludvig Aspling of the Sweden Democrats said the government is reviving the grant policy which has been in existence since 1984, but was not popular as only few immigrants have benefitted from it.
Aspling further said that the government is now making the policy known as well as increasing its size so that more immigrants can benefit.
In August, a committee appointed by the government to look into the implementation of the policy had objected to the increase in the amount offered citing the huge amount it would cost the government to implement it.
It is recalled that Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, upon coming to power in 2022, had promised to counter immigration and crime.
The country has witnessed an influx of a large number of migrants since the 1990s, several of whom were fleeing their countries because of war and crisis.
Such as the former Yugoslavia, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Iraq.
