Sweden to expel 80,000 asylum seekers

  • 28/01/2016
Refugees sleep outside the Swedish Migration Agency's entrance (Reuters)
Refugees sleep outside the Swedish Migration Agency's entrance (Reuters)

Sweden will be turning away up to 80,000 asylum-seekers who have rejected applications, according to the interior minister.

Anders Ygeman has announced that character aircraft will deport the migrants over several years, BBC reports.

He told Swedish media the number currently sits at 60,000 but that could jump to 80,000.

Around 163,000 migrants applied for asylum in Sweden last year - the highest per capita in Europe.

Of the approximately 58,800 cases processed last year, 55 percent were accepted.

Sweden had ushered in temporary border checks to try and control the influx of people, because as well as Germany, the country is a prime destination from refugees and migrants entering the EU illegally, according to BBC.

Earlier this week a 15-year-old asylum seeker was arrested in Molndal after a 22-year-old asylum centre worker was fatally stabbed.

Migration officials say the number of unaccompanied minors who sought asylum in Sweden last year, 35,400, was five times the number in 2014.

Sweden has a population of 9.8 million people.

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