In a series of online posts, internet users allegedly say Sweden is “trying to deport immigrants who have acquired Swedish citizenship,” which they allegedly failed to “integrate into western society.”
These posts have been in rounds on social media for several months, with one in December receiving more than 4 million views.
However, this claim is misleading and does not perfectly match the Swedish government’s position.
What is the Swedish government’s attitude toward migration?
The Swedish government, which consists of a central right coalition supported by the far-right Swedish Democrats (ECR), is cracking down on the transition of one of its main goals.
Sweden is considering changes to the constitution to allow authorities to remove citizenship from dual citizens, but the measure targets individuals who illegally obtain passports or those who commit crimes that are deemed a threat to national security.
Currently, votes are scheduled to be held next year at the Swedish Parliament’s proposal.
The Swedish government also supports a plan to introduce compulsory courses on knowledge about Swedish society and culture in citizenship testing.
According to Swedish officials, the purpose of the test is to exclude immigrants who are not integrated into Western society from gaining citizenship.
Stockholm is also voluntarily developing incentives for financial repatriation of individuals, as Swedish Prime Minister Wolf Christerson told Euronaise earlier this year.
“If you have a legal right to stay in Sweden but are basically not integrated, basically not grateful for the way of life in Sweden, then at least people will consider returning to their country of origin,” Christerson said in a May interview.
As part of the plan, Sweden wants to increase the amount offered to migrants as a financial incentive to depart the country from 900 euros to 32,000 euros from January 1st.
However, this does not amount to forced deportation on the grounds of failure to comply with Western values, as social media users have suggested.
Scandinavian countries began revamping their asylum policies in 2015, moving towards a more stringent stance on application processing.
This policy shift comes after Sweden hosted a record number of asylum seekers (over 160,000) from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria in 2015.
Government policies have sparked criticism from immigrant organizations who argued that migrants face discrimination, raise social tensions, and make integration more difficult for immigrants.
