STOCKHOLM – The Swedish migration minister has advised against immigration citing drug problems as European countries ramp up efforts against welcoming people from other countries.
In a statement, Maria Malmer Stenergard said the country needs to reduce immigration and improve integration efforts to address its growing problem with drug gangs.
The minister – who has overseen a significant drop in asylum seeker numbers to the lowest level since 1997 – pointed to extensive immigration and insufficient integration as key factors behind a range of social issues, including a surge in violent crime that has damaged Sweden’s previously peaceful reputation.
The minister said massive immigration, paired with inadequate integration policies, has led to widespread social exclusion, affecting many individuals. She also cited problems like overcrowded housing, poor school performance, honor-based oppression, and crime in the context of immigration which has again become a hot topic in policy-making circles.
Stenergard also highlighted that crime rates are higher among those born abroad and second-generation immigrants. The minister said the government wants to address the failures in integration cautioning that we cannot make progress if high levels of immigration persist.
As far as any target is concerned, the minister said the authorities don’t have a specific numerical target, adding that asylum immigration must stay low for a significant period to combat widespread social exclusion.
It bears mentioning that as per Swedish police, approximately 62,000 individuals are associated with gangs, making Sweden the EU country with the highest gun-related death rate. Â
The Swedish minister’s statement comes days after the country reported that more people were leaving the land than arriving. According to the latest figures released by Statistics Sweden, the government’s official statistics agency, 5,700 more people had emigrated than immigrated from January to May 2024.
Quoting the figures, Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard Stenergard had recently claimed that the trend was expected to continue, adding that the number of asylum applications had not been as low since 1997.
As far as the reasons for such low figures are concerned, there are many including the strict policies introduced by the government over a period of time. According to the Swedish government’s latest press release, there are now more and more people hailing from Iraq, Somalia or Syria leaving the country.
