Majority of Swedes Say They Want Fewer Asylum Seekers

A majority of Swedes say they want to see fewer asylum applications than the country saw in 2019, with the proportion of that opinion increasing from a similar poll taken last year.

Polling firm Novus found that 63 per cent of Swedes want to take fewer asylum seekers than last year, when the country accepted around 22,000 new claims.

The results are seven per cent higher than a Novus poll conducted the year before which saw 56 per cent of the respondents saying they wanted to see fewer asylum applications, SVT reports.

Those wanting even more asylum applications have also decreased in the poll since last year. Just eight per cent said they wanted to see more asylum seekers arrive in Sweden. Meanwhile, 19 per cent said they would be fine with the same number of asylum seekers as last year.

Swedish PM Rejects Any Limits on Asylum Seeker Migration https://t.co/xd2JwUsk0c

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 5, 2020

Novus also asked Swedes if they thought the country should have a limit on asylum applications per year and what number they thought was appropriate.

The largest group, 29 per cent, said they did not know, while 28 per cent said under 10,000, 16 per cent said zero, and 11 per cent said there should be no limit.

The results come just days after Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven rejected the notion of an upper limit for asylum applications, saying that a limit would be contrary to the idea of asylum.

He did, however, say that Sweden would do its part as a member of the European Union, but not when it becomes unsustainable.

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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 9, 2020

Sweden is currently debating its own asylum policies with many on the right demanding more restrictions, while those in the Green Party have threatened to leave the government if harsh restrictions are imposed.

Between 2010 and 2019, Sweden granted residency permits to around 1.2 million migrants, hundreds of thousands of them asylum seekers and family reunification permits.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com