SWEDEN

It will never happen

The government is waiting to send Syrians home
Published 10 December 2024 at 08.04
Domestic. After the regime change in Syria, the Sweden Democrats demand that Syrians' residence permits in Sweden be revoked. But Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) believes that it is too early to make such decisions.

Johan Forssell emphasizes that the Swedish Migration Agency makes careful assessments of the situation.

- It was only the other day that the regime fell in Damascus, so it is very difficult to draw any such conclusions now, he tells Aftonbladet.

The regime change in Syria means that President Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown, and he is now said to have sought asylum in Russia. Johan Forssell points out, however, that the changes in Syria are not expected to lead to any new wave of refugees to Sweden. He also highlights that Sweden's current migration policy and the EU's migration pact create different conditions than during the asylum chaos of 2015.

SD leader Jimmie Åkesson has called on Syrians in Sweden to return if they celebrate the change of power in Syria. The party's migration policy spokesperson Ludvig Aspling has also said that Syria's refugee status should be reconsidered if the situation in the country improves.

However, Johan Forssell believes that conditions in Syria need to change significantly in order for permanent residence permits to be revoked, and that such decisions are not made by the government but by the Swedish Migration Agency. He also emphasizes that it is still too early to speculate on how developments may affect Sweden's migration policy.

About 80 percent of all Syrians in Sweden have already managed to obtain Swedish citizenship - many of them during the Tidö government - and can therefore no longer be sent home with current legislation.