World Immigration News

‘A lot of fear’: the families bearing brunt of Sweden’s immigration crackdown

Release Date: 2026-01-24
Media: The Guardian
Summary: Sweden’s tightening asylum and immigration policies are pushing many long-term residents with rejected asylum claims into limbo and at risk of deportation, the article reports. It follows Sofiye, an Uzbek mother who arrived in 2008, learned Swedish, worked for the municipality, and raised children in Sweden—including one born there—but lost her right to work after repeated failed asylum applications and now lives in an asylum return centre near Stockholm’s Arlanda airport, suffering severe stress and poor mental health.

The return centres are part of a broader shift by a centre-right government supported by the Sweden Democrats, aiming to move Sweden away from being a country focused on asylum reception and toward “labour immigration.” Recent changes include placing asylum seekers in reception/return facilities rather than individual housing, offering “repatriation grants,” tightening citizenship and family reunification rules (including stricter identity verification and documentation), and expanding the risk of removal for non-citizens, including through criminal deportations.

Support organisations say the hostile environment is a sharp break from Sweden’s more welcoming past and is unlikely to reverse even after the next election, as major parties have adopted tougher stances. A particularly damaging reform was the abolition of “track changes,” which previously allowed some rejected asylum seekers who were working to apply for residence permits; its removal is estimated to have put about 4,700 established people at risk of deportation. Government figures cited in the article show returns hit a decade high in 2025 while asylum applications fell significantly, and advocates warn that life in return centres is harsh—especially for children and vulnerable groups—fueling anxiety and insecurity for families facing removal.
Tags: Sweden

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