Members of the opposition in the Swedish government have criticised the website Sweden.se after it published information on how illegal immigrants can receive state healthcare and child benefits.
The Swedish Institute runs the website which lists information in English, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. It advertises welfare programmes to illegals, including grants for having at least six children and how healthcare in the country is nearly free, Kristianstadsbladet reports.
Head of the centre-right Moderate Party Ulf Kristersson expressed criticism of the site’s content. Mr Kristersson said: “It’s totally unreasonable. If you explicitly tell people that you can get a lot of money if you have many children, or what benefits you get if you stay in the country illegally, then you send wrong signals about what Sweden should be and what the government should take responsibility for.”
A manager at the Swedish Institute justified the content saying: “We try to tell people that Sweden is a welfare country, I have no problem signing off on that. We have a system that arouses interest.”
Foreign Minister Anna Hallberg of the Social Democrats did not outright condemn the content but said that she would be setting up a meeting with the institute to determine the basis for the text.
Sweden: Govt Minister Claims Country Needs MORE Refugees to Fill Jobs https://t.co/MDmRstVbCq
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 19, 2019
While Sweden boasts numerous generous social programmes, mass migration since the height of the 2015 migrant crisis has also resulted in many municipalities facing financial crises due to the strain of funding social programmes for migrants who are not in the labour force.
In August, the municipality of Bengtsfors went as far as to say it risked bankruptcy if no cash from the national government came to cover the local government’s expenses.
The main problem for many local governments has been the very high unemployment rate of foreign-born residents in Sweden, which topped nearly 20 per cent, according to figures released last year.
Despite this, some in Sweden have continued to argue for further mass migration, insisting that the Swedish economy depends on it.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.