Sweden, one of Europe’s most developed and prosperous economies, is now paying some foreign residents to leave the country as part of its tougher immigration policies, according to a Reuters report. The country’s right-wing government hopes the move will help it secure re-election this month.
The country, once known for its hospitality toward migrants, has become very cautious about its borders in the past decade. The country received 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015, the report said. By 2025, though, that number was down 96%. That’s a huge drop.
According to the country’s official Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), asylum seekers who arrived in 2015 came from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea, and Somalia. Many of them were also stateless.
The Swedish coalition government of the Moderate Party, Christian Democrats, and Liberals came to power in 2022 on a pledge to reduce immigration and crime. Reuters reported that since the start of this year, the Swedish coalition government has been offering non-EU migrants up to $37,000 (350,000 Swedish crowns) if they leave Sweden.
According to the report, Mary Khan-Hohloch, a German politician and member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, welcomed the Swedish initiative. Hohloch is also a member of the European Parliament (MEP). Her far-right party, the AFD, recently won 44% of the vote in the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, and immigration is also a political issue for them.
Reuters reported that 171 people have accepted the cash offer to leave Sweden so far in 2026. The country’s Democrats want to extend the offer to immigrants with Swedish citizenship. But only if they revoke their citizenship.