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IMMIGRATION

Sweden taking in record numbers of immigrants

As the flow of immigrants into Sweden reaches record levels, growing numbers are choosing to live in communities featuring universities rather than in cities traditionally known for their large immigrant populations.

According to recent figures from Statistics Sweden (SCB), Sweden’s population increased by nearly 60,000 residents in the first nine months of 2008, with immigration accounting for more than 70 percent of the increase.

Altogether, just over 78,200 immigrants came into Sweden between January and September of this year, while nearly 34,900 foreign-born residents left the country.

The net immigration of more than 43,000 represents the highest net immigration ever recorded in Sweden, reports the Sydsvenskan newspaper.

Several regions, including Blekinge and Småland in the south, Västmanland in the west, Dalarna and Gävleborg in central Sweden, as well as Västernorrland and Västerbotten in the north would have registered negative population growth for the first three quarters of 2008 were it not for the additional residents gained through immigration.

Without immigration, 54 out of Sweden’s 290 municipalities would have lost population.

And municipalities with colleges and universities appear to be the communities attracting immigrants in greater numbers.

Net immigration has increased most in Lund (122 percent), Uppsala (66), Jönköping (44), Örebro (41), and Växjö (33), each of which features a sizeable university.

At the same time, immigration trends have actually reversed for several communities which have previously been magnets for the foreign born.

Malmö, Botkyrka and Södertälje near Stockholm, and Landskrona in southern Sweden have all shown a drop in net immigration in the first part of 2008.

IMMIGRATION

France ‘will not welcome migrants’ from Lampedusa: interior minister

France "will not welcome migrants" from the island, Gérald Darmanin has insisted

France 'will not welcome migrants' from Lampedusa: interior minister

France will not welcome any migrants coming from Italy’s Lampedusa, interior minister Gérald Darmanin has said after the Mediterranean island saw record numbers of arrivals.

Some 8,500 people arrived on Lampedusa on 199 boats between Monday and Wednesday last week, according to the UN’s International Organisation for
Migration, prompting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to travel there Sunday to announce an emergency action plan.

According to Darmanin, Paris told Italy it was “ready to help them return people to countries with which we have good diplomatic relations”, giving the
example of Ivory Coast and Senegal.

But France “will not welcome migrants” from the island, he said, speaking on French television on Tuesday evening.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called on Italy’s EU partners to share more of the responsibility.

The recent arrivals on Lampedusa equal more than the whole population of the tiny Italian island.

The mass movement has stoked the immigration debate in France, where political parties in the country’s hung parliament are wrangling over a draft law governing new arrivals.

France is expected to face a call from Pope Francis for greater tolerance towards migrants later this week during a high-profile visit to Mediterranean city Marseille, where the pontiff will meet President Emmanuel Macron and celebrate mass before tens of thousands in a stadium.

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