Swedish coalition divided over remigration allowance

Sweden's ruling coalition, halfway through its four-year term, faces a deepening division over the thorny issue of raising the voluntary remigration allowance, strongly criticised by the Liberal Party. 

As the Swedish Parliament resumed session on Tuesday (10 September), the delicate issue of increasing voluntary aid for remigration caused tension between the Liberals and the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD).

Sweden is currently ruled by a minority centre-right coalition made up of the Moderates (EPP), the Christian Democrats (EPP), and the Liberals (Renew), which are supported by the Sweden Democrats (ECR).

"It is time for the Liberals to show balls and show that we make a difference," said Liberal MEP (Renew) Karin Karlsbro to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

"We should not contribute to the implementation of ill-considered proposals that are actually based on the SD's harsh rhetoric," she added.

The far-right SD party (ECR) has long pushed for a repatriation policy for foreign-born residents along the lines of the Danish system, where people leaving the country permanently can receive allowances of up to 330,000 Danish Kroner (DKK) (€44,000).

Sweden’s existing remigration allowance stands at 10,000 Swedish Krona (SEK) (€873) and has seen minimal uptake; only one person used it in 2023 compared to 300 in Denmark.

Therefore, in line with the coalition agreement's commitment to exploring a repatriation system, the Swedish government launched an inquiry in October 2023 to find ways to encourage more people living in Sweden with strong ties to another country to emigrate.

According to the Swedish government, this mainly concerned people who had not integrated into Swedish society in terms of "self-sufficiency, language or other cultural factors."

However, the government's appointed investigator, Economist Joakim Ruist, advised against the coalition agreement's proposal to sharply increase subsidies for foreign-born people seeking to return to their home countries.

Ruist said the policy is expected to have a little economic impact and could harm integration by singling out individuals as 'undesirable'.

On the other hand, he suggested that immigrants who have acquired Swedish citizenship and family immigrants should be included in the existing remigration grant, currently reserved for non-Swedish migrants.

Tension within the coalition parties

The far-right SD party, part of the coalition agreement but not the government, still wants to increase the current allowance, as party Leader Jimmie Åkesson called for a substantial rise earlier this summer.

"More people who haven't really been able to find their place here in Sweden will choose to return instead of living here and, year after year, living on benefits, living in exclusion," SD's Integration Policy Spokesperson Ludvig Aspling said.

"We believe that there are many people who would actually prefer to return home, but they may need a little help along the way," he added.

But for the Liberals, increasing the voluntary immigration allowance is a non-issue.

"The rapporteur was clear on the issue and gave an unfavourable opinion," a source close to the Liberals told Euractiv before adding that they saw no reason why it should be on the agenda.

The Liberal Party's Youth Association (LUF) has now called on the party to block the proposal.

"I think the Liberals should use their position as a decisive factor for this government to have a majority. And simply stop this proposal and say no," declared LUF Chairman Anton Holmlund to Swedish broadcaster TV4 Nyheter.

According to him, the policy proposal sends the wrong message to those seeking to integrate into Sweden.

"It sends pretty bad signals to everyone who wants to stay and wants to integrate. Here, the government says that you should not stay here. Ideally, we want to pay you to leave. This is a completely wrong signal and will not help integration in Sweden," Holmlund said.

[Edited by Martina Monti]