Sweden seeks to oust up to 80,000 asylum seekers: report

Sweden reversed is open-doors policy on immigration late last year.

Interior Minister Anders Ygeman says Sweden wants to deport up to 80,000 asylum-seekers. Henrik Montgomery / TT via AP, file
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STOCKHOLM // Sweden is preparing to deport up to 80,000 of last year's record number of asylum seekers, interior minister Anders Ygeman told business daily Dagens Industri on Thursday.

Mr Ygeman said he estimated about 60,000 to 80,000 of the 163,000 people who sought asylum last year would be expelled and either leave voluntarily or be forcibly deported.

The government fears many will go into hiding, and police are increasing their work to find and expel them, Dagens Industri reported.

“We have a big challenge ahead of us. We will need to use more resources for this and we must have better cooperation between authorities,” Mr Ygeman said.

This week, prime minister Stefan Lofven promised more resources for police to deal with the refugee situation.

Sweden reversed its open-doors policy on immigration late last year and has introduced border controls and identification checks to stem the flow of asylum seekers.

* Reuters