Minister of Public Administration Lena Micko claimed Sweden needs more refugees to fill jobs, despite the unemployment rate of migrants being several times higher than for native-born Swedes.
Ms Micko, a member of the ruling Social Democrats, said that without more refugees and economic migrants, the Swedish economy could collapse, Nyheter Idag reports.
“In many places, they have also succeeded very well with educational efforts, labour market initiatives, getting people into jobs. And you also need a lot of refugees, because there is a lack of staff,” Micko claimed during a television segment opposite populist Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson.
The comment was slammed by Åkesson, who responded: “I’m sorry, but it is so reality-free to hear you say that ‘we need labour and therefore it has been good that the municipalities receive refugees.’ It is completely devoid of reality. It will be an extreme burden on the municipal economy, and it directly affects the welfare system.”
Several municipalities across Sweden which have taken in large shares of migrants per capita have warned in the last several months that they may be facing financial crisis due to lack of labour integration of newly arrived migrants.
The municipality of Bengtsfors went as far as saying they faced bankruptcy if the national government did not come to their aid with a fresh infusion of cash to pay for migrants in the area.
Last year, Urban Hansson Brusewitz, head of the National Institute of Economic Research (KI), warned of the coming financial crisis in the municipalities due to mass migration and said that some might have to raise taxes to cover the costs.
“We are facing some years of demographic challenge, which makes me a little worried that the municipalities may be forced to raise taxes,” he said.
For some local governments, such as Filipstad, raising taxes may not be an option. The provincial government has reported that many native Swedes with jobs were simply packing up and moving elsewhere, lowering the overall tax base.
Unemployment rates among foreign-born migrants are much higher than for native-born Swedes. A report last year showed the migrant unemployment rate as high as 19.9 per cent, compared to 3.6 per cent for those born in Sweden.
A report released earlier in the month by European Union statistics agency Eurostat showed that overall Sweden is now 24th out of 28 EU member-states in terms of unemployment.
Statistics Sweden’s integration database for health insurance and labour market studies (LISA) has also claimed that of the migrants who gained permanent residency since the height of the 2015 migrant crisis, 90 per cent remain unemployed.
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