Sweden cracks down on migrants flowing across its borders

The World
Swedish police officers erect a border control fence at Malmo on the Danish border

For the first time since the 1950s, Sweden has reintroduced passport controls at its border with Denmark. Visitors from Denmark now need to undergo identity checks before crossing the frontier.

The aim of the new policy is to slow the flow of migrants from Denmark and the rest of the EU into Sweden. Until recently Sweden had a reputation as one of the most welcoming European countries to migrants; all Syrian migrants were offered permanent residence, for example.

More than 150,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, a far higher number than any other Scandinavian country. Many more people are believed to have entered the country without being detected by the authorities.

More recently, that policy of welcome has begun to change. The Swedish government has said it's running out of capacity to cope with new arrivals, and is no longer seeking to portray itself as a place of refuge. According to Maddy Savage, editor of The Local, an English-language news source in the country, public support for a liberal policy on immigration has fallen dramatically.

"The majority of Swedes are still in favour of helping refugees, but the tide is starting to turn” she said. “Support is also rising for the very anti-immigration Sweden Democratic Party. So although a lot of Swedes do want to maintain their reputation [for welcoming migrants], there are others who are glad that border checks are being introduced."

The new checks have so far been most controversial in the twin cities of Copenhagen and Malmo. Although the two cities are on opposite sides of the border, thousands of people commute between them over the Oresund Bridge each day. According to Savage, the new checks have more than doubled journey times from 30 minutes to more than an hour.

“Every single person trying to make the journey between the two countries now has to get off the train, go up a flight of stairs, have their documents checked, and get back down onto the platform and wait for the next train.”

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