“Welcome to the return journey. You hold a one-way ticket. Next stop, Kabul!” tweeted Tobias Andersson (SD) in August 2022 to a picture of the Sweden Democrats’ advertisement in the Stockholm subway.
Since then, SD has continued to push for increased return migration and made it one of the Tidö parties’ priority issues in the area of migration.
In 2022, the government tasked the Swedish Migration Agency with increasing return migration. But figures produced by SVT show that, despite this, only one person was granted a return migration grant last year.
– I don’t think that it is the grant that primarily makes people choose to return, says Charlotte Kirotar, head of unit at the Swedish Migration Agency.
Those who have a residence permit and want to return to their home country can today have the journey paid for by the Swedish Migration Agency, as well as a grant of up to SEK 10,000. In exchange, the person must renounce their residence permit.
A total of 70 people applied last year, and 69 of them were denied. In most cases, the applicant did not meet the criteria, which state that the applicant must have no income, be debt-free and have a valid passport in the home country.
You are tasked with increasing return migration. Is it a failure that only one person was granted the grant?
– I wouldn’t say that. It does not show how many may have returned. There may be many more that the Swedish Migration Agency does not come into contact with, says Charlotte Kirotar.
The government wants to increase the grants
In October, the government appointed an inquiry which will draw up proposals for measures that can increase return migration. One of the proposals being examined is higher contributions.
But according to Henrik Malm Lindberg, deputy head of office at the Delegation for Migration Studies, financial incentives have very little impact on people’s willingness to return.
– It doesn’t work very well. There is some pretty solid evidence for that. It is mainly structural factors such as the relationship in the home country and in the host country that play a role. Next, family and social structures, he says.