In recent weeks, announcements have been pouring in. At the beginning of the month, Olaf Scholz’s government surprised the Twenty-Seven by announcing the establishment of police controls at the German borders. A few days later, Sweden revealed a drastic increase in aid for the return of migrants from 2026. The next day, the Dutch Prime Minister presented measures to curb irregular immigration. The United Kingdom announced on September 15 the creation of a border security command.
While all of these states have made their decisions independently of the others, they all have one thing in common: they are toughening their migration policies in a context of the rise of the extreme right on their territory. An overview of the measures taken in recent weeks.
In Sweden, migrants pushed out
Sweden is actively helping migrants… to leave. On Thursday, September 12, the government proposed increasing the allowance given to migrants who agree to return to their country of origin from 2026. A flagship measure of the far-right party, the Sweden Democrats (SD), which occupies second place in the Riksdag (Parliament) with 72 members out of 349. Since 1984, when return assistance was created, an adult can benefit from a maximum of 10,000 crowns (879 euros). However, from 2026, a migrant could receive up to 350,000 crowns, or more than 30,000 euros.
Last year, only one person accepted the aid, according to Migration Minister Johan Forssell. SD MP Ludvig Aspling said that the increase in the allowance could help attract more beneficiaries. But according to a government-commissioned survey report published in August, the result was far from the desired effect: the increase “risks slowing down efforts to integrate migrants.”
In recent years, Sweden has tightened its migration policy, becoming one of the strictest European states in this area. Of the 62 pages of the government’s roadmap, 19 are reserved for the “migration and integration” section. After restricting family reunification and raising the minimum wage level required to grant a work permit to migrants from outside the European Union, the nation will take a new step in 2026.
Right turn for Germany
For years, Germany has been known for its open-door policy. But after welcoming more than a million refugees, mainly Syrians, in 2015-2016 and more than a million Ukrainian exiles, the country is changing course. On Monday, September 16, Olaf Scholz’s government introduced police checks at the borders of five neighboring countries: France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark and Austria. This system is in addition to the one currently in place around Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.
Such checks deviate from the historical rules of free movement in the Schengen area. But since May 2024, a reform of the Schengen code makes them possible for six months in the event of a threat to public order. This is the reason why Germany justified this new measure. “These provisions are necessary for the protection of internal security against the current threats of Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime,” Berlin assured on Monday, September 9. Two weeks earlier, an attack in Solingen claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State and committed by a Syrian who was subject to an expulsion order, had left three dead, bringing the debates on immigration back to the forefront.
Faced with record scores obtained by the far-right AfD party in two regional elections earlier this month, Olaf Scholz’s government has deemed it necessary to toughen its migration policy. The main conservative opposition party, the CDU, has also called for more frequent recourse to the return of asylum seekers. With the CDU far ahead of the chancellor’s social-democratic coalition in the polls and having been pressing the government for several days, Berlin has announced that it wants to increase the number of migrants turned back at the German borders.
The Netherlands has the “strictest regime ever”
The far-right coalition with the Party for Freedom (PVV) has set the tone. In May, the four-party cabinet consisting of the PVV, the Farmer-Citizen Movement, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the New Social Contract, committed to implementing “the strictest possible asylum regime”. On Friday 13 September, Prime Minister Dick Schoof presented the government’s plans for asylum. Among other things, it intends to pass an “emergency immigration law”.
This project, led by Marjolein Faber, Minister of Asylum and Migration and member of the far-right party, aims in particular to reinstate border controls. This law would also temporarily suspend the examination of asylum applications, tighten reception conditions and limit family reunification. Measures still to be voted on in Parliament.
The coalition also called on Wednesday 18 September for an opt-out clause from the European asylum and immigration policy, stating that the Netherlands “can no longer cope with the large influx of asylum seekers”. An unprecedented move by a founding member state and one with little chance of success, especially as data indicates a drop in the number of asylum applications last year, with around 27,000 permits granted, 2,500 fewer than in 2022.
UK takes inspiration from Meloni
It was a visit that the Labour Party did not see coming. On Monday, September 16, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer went to Rome. His goal: to learn lessons from the government of the far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to fight against immigration. A visit that provoked strong reactions in his own camp. Labour MP Kim Johnson regretted, in an interview for The Guardianthat the Prime Minister seek advice “from a neo-fascist government”.
The day before, Keir Starmer had already confirmed the change of direction of his policy by announcing the establishment of a new border security command. This will “coordinate the work of all our police and intelligence services […] to combat organised immigration crime,” Downing Street said.
The announcement came just weeks after riots rocked the country, prompting Keir Starmer to promise to do politics “differently” to “address the social black hole.” On July 29, the murder of three young girls in Southport sparked violent clashes in major British cities after false reports attributed the crime to an asylum seeker. Until then, the UK had never seen far-right riots of this violence.