Sweden’s government said Thursday, September 12, that it would drastically increase grants for immigrants who choose to leave the country and return home, to encourage more migrants to do so.
Immigrants who voluntarily return to their home countries would be eligible to receive up to 350,000 Swedish kronor ($34,000), the right-wing government, which is propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, told a press conference.
“We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in our migration policy,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell told reporters.
Currently, immigrants can receive up to 10,000 kronor per adult and 5,000 kronor per child, with a cap of 40,000 kronor per family.
“The grant has been around since 1984, but it is relatively unknown, it is small and relatively few people use it,” Ludvig Aspling of the Sweden Democrats told reporters.