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IMMIGRATION

Fewer seeking asylum in Sweden

The number of foreigners seeking asylum in Sweden has fallen by 17 percent in the first half of 2009, compared to the same period last year, according to the Swedish Migration Board’s (Migrationsverket) mid-year report to the Swedish government.

Published: 16 August 2009 09:44 CEST

This development is in direct contrast to the trend in the rest of Europe, where the number of asylum seekers increased by 18 percent in the first six months of 2009, reported Sveriges Radio Östergötland.

Between January and June 2008, 12,270 people sought asylum in Sweden. The equivalent figure for 2009 is 10,135. The decline is primarily due to a decrease of 74 percent in the number of Iraqis who sought asylum compared to the year before.

The largest group of asylum seekers is now from Somalia. Thus far in 2009, 2074 people from Somalia have applied for asylum in Sweden, according to SR Östergötland.

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IMMIGRATION

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

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

Published: 20 September 2023 09:06 CEST
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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