A Swedish municipality that took in one of the highest numbers of asylum seekers per population faces a crisis as natives move out and decimate the local tax base.
The municipality of Filipstad took in many asylum seekers during the migrant crisis of 2015 and now are facing increasing costs as unemployment among migrants has surged and financial assistance rates have tripled, broadcaster SVT reports.
Claes Hultgren, the local municipal manager, described the situation, saying of the migrant population: “In this group, unemployment and dependency are very high, while education levels are very low. This group runs the risk of ending in an eternal alienation that is already heavily burdening the municipal economy.”
“They are too old maybe and are illiterate, or have a very low educational level. We must then accept that there will be some people who will need the support of society for their livelihood,” Hultgren added.
Adding to the burden has been the exodus of native Swedes, with hundreds of natives leaving between 2012 and 2018 and an even higher number of foreigners arriving during the same period. Statistics show the vast majority of natives who left were of working age.
While job vacancies still do exist in the municipality, the jobs require skills in language and training that few of the migrants possess.
According to another report from SVT, the city of Gothenberg is undergoing a similar problem, with working-age native Swedes moving out of the city to nearby municipalities, often to buy a home, and taking their tax money with them.
While many cities across Sweden are facing housing shortages, the rate of unemployment between native Swedes and migrants is stark.
A 2018 report stated that the unemployment rate for native Swedes was a mere 3.6 per cent while the foreign-born rate was much higher at 19.9 per cent. The city of Malmo, which has a high migration-background population, was shown to have double the national unemployment average.
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