Sweden to Reject and Deport 80,000 Asylum Seekers

By Cheri Cheng - 28 Jan '16 15:02PM
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Sweden is prepared to reject anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 of the applications it has received from migrants who are seeking asylum, the Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said. Ygeman added that the deportation of these migrants via charter aircrafts would occur over the next few years.

Ygeman explained to the newspaper, Dagens Industri that his estimations were based on the rates calculated in the previous year when Sweden only accepted 55 percent of the 58,700 cases that were processed. In this year alone, Sweden has already received about 163,000 applications - the highest per capita in Europe. Since the average rejection rate is 45 percent, about 60,000 to 80,000 migrants can expect to be deported.

The number of migrants who are trying to get to Europe has increased drastically over the past year, causing countries that are typically very welcoming to enforce tighter border control laws. Denmark most recently passed a law that will allow authorities to seize valuables that have no sentimental value from migrants. These valuables act as form of payment, the officials stated.

On top of the overwhelming numbers, there have recently been more reports regarding migrants who are committing crimes. In Germany, there have been a lot of reported sexual assault cases allegedly carried out by migrants. In Sweden, a teenage migrant was recently arrested for fatally stabbing a 22-year-old employee from the asylum center.

Regardless of any new regulations, migrants have continued to risk their lives journeying to Europe. A boat carrying migrants capsized near a Greek island on Wednesday. At least 25 people, including 10 children, died.

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