EU Country May Offer Financial Incentives for Citizens to Emigrate
Stockholm is considering reforms and expansions to a program aimed at encouraging migrants who are having difficulty integrating into society to depart the country. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
An expansion of Sweden's "voluntary repatriation" program, which presently targets migrants struggling to assimilate, might soon include naturalized Swedes as well. This development comes from a proposal pitched to Maria Malmer Stenergard, the Immigration Minister.
Currently, the program offers a single payment—10,000 Swedish krona (around $960) for adults and 5,000 for children—along with covered travel expenses to refugees and migrants who choose to return to their countries of origin.
A recently proposed expansion by a governmental inquiry would extend these benefits to naturalized citizens and their relatives, not just to those with temporary or permanent residency. The inquiry also considered establishing a payback mechanism for recipients who accept the money but do not depart. However, it advised against increasing the monetary incentive to avoid implying that migrants are unwelcome.
“The investigation’s proposal will now be analyzed at the Ministry of Justice,” Minister of Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard stated on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out the shortcomings of the current scheme due to lack of awareness.
Sweden, with its foreign-born population now exceeding 2.15 million—more than a fifth of the total population—has witnessed significant demographic shifts in recent decades. Following a peak influx of immigrants in 2015, the government tightened its immigration regulations, making them among the strictest in Europe.
This tightening policy seems to have influenced migration trends significantly. "We see that many emigrate even without receiving support,” Stenergard remarked. “Recently, I presented figures showing that last year we saw net emigration for the first time in over 50 years.”
Stenergard also commented on the broader implications of return migration for those who fail to integrate: “For those who have not integrated into Swedish society, return migration can be a way to create a better life for themselves. It is one of several ways to achieve sustainable immigration that strengthens integration and reduces exclusion.”
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
Currently, the program offers a single payment—10,000 Swedish krona (around $960) for adults and 5,000 for children—along with covered travel expenses to refugees and migrants who choose to return to their countries of origin.
A recently proposed expansion by a governmental inquiry would extend these benefits to naturalized citizens and their relatives, not just to those with temporary or permanent residency. The inquiry also considered establishing a payback mechanism for recipients who accept the money but do not depart. However, it advised against increasing the monetary incentive to avoid implying that migrants are unwelcome.
“The investigation’s proposal will now be analyzed at the Ministry of Justice,” Minister of Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard stated on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out the shortcomings of the current scheme due to lack of awareness.
Sweden, with its foreign-born population now exceeding 2.15 million—more than a fifth of the total population—has witnessed significant demographic shifts in recent decades. Following a peak influx of immigrants in 2015, the government tightened its immigration regulations, making them among the strictest in Europe.
This tightening policy seems to have influenced migration trends significantly. "We see that many emigrate even without receiving support,” Stenergard remarked. “Recently, I presented figures showing that last year we saw net emigration for the first time in over 50 years.”
Stenergard also commented on the broader implications of return migration for those who fail to integrate: “For those who have not integrated into Swedish society, return migration can be a way to create a better life for themselves. It is one of several ways to achieve sustainable immigration that strengthens integration and reduces exclusion.”
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
