A survey published this week has shown that the vast majority of “refugees” living in Sweden have vacationed in the country they fled from — though hardly any wish to ever return permanently.
The survey, which was conducted by the polling firm Novus, claims that, around 85 per cent of people living in Sweden born overseas have gone on vacation to their home country — and that among people who are supposed to be refugees the number is around 79 per cent, despite the fact they are in Sweden in the first place because they were supposedly forced to flee said home country.
The results also reveal that very few migrants ever wish to return to their home countries permanently, with just two per cent saying they planned to return in the future and only 16 per cent said they might consider it, the online newspaper Bulletin, which commissioned the survey, reports.
Of those surveyed who came to Sweden from a country outside of the European Union, a total of 81 per cent said they would be looking to permanently stay in Sweden. Just over half of the respondents stated that Sweden was a better country to raise children compared to their home country, while nine per cent said Sweden was worse than their homelands.
Since the height of the 2015-16 migrant crisis, several countries have noted that those claiming refugee status have frequently travelled back to the country they “fled” from for holidays.
In Germany, former Interior Minister Horst Seehofer spoke out on the topic in 2019, threatening to revoke the asylum status of Syrians who were going back to their home country on vacation, arguing that they could not make serious claims of persecution if they travelled back home for recreation.
Earlier that same year, a Syrian blogger who came to Germany as a refugee had complained about not being able to go on vacation in Syria, stating that Germany was stressful for him and he needed a break.
Sweden faces a national election this weekend and the populist Sweden Democrats have argued for much stricter immigration policies, including a proposal to “remigrate” migrants who have failed to integrate into Sweden’s society or labour market, or who have been involved in criminal activity.
The party has seen a recent surge in popularity in the polls, and is likely to become the second-largest behind the ruling Social Democrats — and possibly part of a new centre-right coalition government — after the election.