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Immigration Forces Sweden to Re-Evaluate Its Welfare State
STOCKHOLM -- When he was in his early 20s, Jacek Dabrowski earned money by visiting Sweden during the summer months and working in the construction industry. Now 34, the native of Krakow, Poland, returned to Sweden in 2016 so he could earn more money than what he could in his homeland -- essential, he says, to help pay off debts he has accrued.
"I was struggling for many years and it was hard so I just realized that I needed another solution," says Dabrowski, who now makes Stockholm his home. "And, yeah, I had been to Sweden, and always liked the country and the people and always found it very easy to live here and work here."
Dabrowski is one of many people who have found their way to the Nordic country, either for economic opportunity, to seek asylum or to flee war. Indeed, today Sweden is viewed as perhaps the best country to be an economic immigrant, according to one survey.
But the Swedish door that has historically swung open wide to accept migrants is swinging back. The flood of immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers that has streamed into the country in recent years has forced the government to tighten rules governing migration into the country.
The waves of migrants have also stirred a public backlash, one that challenges the country's image and core values of tolerance and openness. Swedes, experts say, are confronting the limits of how generous a nation with a relatively small population can be. Policy-makers must decide what changes are needed to help an aging country remain exceptional for its high living standards and its magnanimity to foreigners seeking a better life.
"Sweden has had to come to terms with the limits of its policies [toward migrants]," says Demetrios G. Papademetriou, a senior fellow and president emeritus at the Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute.
Sweden has long been viewed by the rest of the world as a welcoming harbor for migrants. Its welfare-state model is a source of pride for its citizens and is seen by the world as offering a high quality of life and a safe environment in which to raise children. The Swedish culture of egalitarianism also helps the country's image as one of the world's best nations for women, according to one survey.
The country's rosy reputation for accepting foreigners is grounded in its history of dealing with refugees. During World War II the country began accepting Europeans fleeing Nazi Germany. In the 1980s the nation welcomed refugees from Iran, Somalia and Eritrea, as well as Kurds. By the 1990s, former Yugoslavs began streaming into the Sweden. During the latter half of the 20th century the Swedish government developed a system of providing social benefits to refugees that are as generous as those given to its citizens...
...In 2015 the refugee crisis that overwhelmed Europe threatened to bury Sweden. People fleeing fighting in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and across Africa streamed into the continent in record numbers. In 2015, the government of Sweden, a country of not quite 10 million people, recorded nearly 163,000 asylum-seekers arriving in the country. The country today has the highest number per capita of asylum-seekers in the EU.
The flood of refugees forced Sweden to tighten its policies near the end of 2015. In a nod to how deeply ingrained openness is in Swedish culture, then-Deputy Prime Minister Asa Romson broke down in tears in November 2015 as she announced stricter rules allowing the entry of refugees and asylum-seekers.
While the tightened policies do not target economic immigrants, the public mood in Sweden toward foreigners has changed. As The Economist reported earlier this year, the public talk of "Swedish values" has increased dramatically in recent years.
Likewise, the far-right anti-immigration political party Sweden Democrats has been steadily seeing increased public support. In June one survey showed it now attracts the second-greatest amount of support from Swedes...
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that this type of system will implode if you have more people taking out of the system than people putting into the system. Socialism is a pinko pipe dream.
STOCKHOLM -- When he was in his early 20s, Jacek Dabrowski earned money by visiting Sweden during the summer months and working in the construction industry. Now 34, the native of Krakow, Poland, returned to Sweden in 2016 so he could earn more money than what he could in his homeland -- essential, he says, to help pay off debts he has accrued.
"I was struggling for many years and it was hard so I just realized that I needed another solution," says Dabrowski, who now makes Stockholm his home. "And, yeah, I had been to Sweden, and always liked the country and the people and always found it very easy to live here and work here."
Dabrowski is one of many people who have found their way to the Nordic country, either for economic opportunity, to seek asylum or to flee war. Indeed, today Sweden is viewed as perhaps the best country to be an economic immigrant, according to one survey.
But the Swedish door that has historically swung open wide to accept migrants is swinging back. The flood of immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers that has streamed into the country in recent years has forced the government to tighten rules governing migration into the country.
The waves of migrants have also stirred a public backlash, one that challenges the country's image and core values of tolerance and openness. Swedes, experts say, are confronting the limits of how generous a nation with a relatively small population can be. Policy-makers must decide what changes are needed to help an aging country remain exceptional for its high living standards and its magnanimity to foreigners seeking a better life.
"Sweden has had to come to terms with the limits of its policies [toward migrants]," says Demetrios G. Papademetriou, a senior fellow and president emeritus at the Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute.
Sweden has long been viewed by the rest of the world as a welcoming harbor for migrants. Its welfare-state model is a source of pride for its citizens and is seen by the world as offering a high quality of life and a safe environment in which to raise children. The Swedish culture of egalitarianism also helps the country's image as one of the world's best nations for women, according to one survey.
The country's rosy reputation for accepting foreigners is grounded in its history of dealing with refugees. During World War II the country began accepting Europeans fleeing Nazi Germany. In the 1980s the nation welcomed refugees from Iran, Somalia and Eritrea, as well as Kurds. By the 1990s, former Yugoslavs began streaming into the Sweden. During the latter half of the 20th century the Swedish government developed a system of providing social benefits to refugees that are as generous as those given to its citizens...
...In 2015 the refugee crisis that overwhelmed Europe threatened to bury Sweden. People fleeing fighting in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and across Africa streamed into the continent in record numbers. In 2015, the government of Sweden, a country of not quite 10 million people, recorded nearly 163,000 asylum-seekers arriving in the country. The country today has the highest number per capita of asylum-seekers in the EU.
The flood of refugees forced Sweden to tighten its policies near the end of 2015. In a nod to how deeply ingrained openness is in Swedish culture, then-Deputy Prime Minister Asa Romson broke down in tears in November 2015 as she announced stricter rules allowing the entry of refugees and asylum-seekers.
While the tightened policies do not target economic immigrants, the public mood in Sweden toward foreigners has changed. As The Economist reported earlier this year, the public talk of "Swedish values" has increased dramatically in recent years.
Likewise, the far-right anti-immigration political party Sweden Democrats has been steadily seeing increased public support. In June one survey showed it now attracts the second-greatest amount of support from Swedes...
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that this type of system will implode if you have more people taking out of the system than people putting into the system. Socialism is a pinko pipe dream.
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