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IMMIGRATION

Sweden Democrats push to overrule inquiry on re-emigration grants

The far-right Sweden Democrats have called for Sweden's government to overrule its own inquiry and push forward with a massive increase in grants given to immigrants to encourage them to return to their home countries.

Sweden Democrats push to overrule inquiry on re-emigration grants
Nima Gholam Ali Pour, a Sweden Democrat MP who serves on the Social Insurance Committee. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Last week, a Swedish government inquiry tasked with proposing new policies which would “powerfully stimulate” the voluntary return of immigrants advised the government against increasing the so-called emigration grants from today’s 10,000 kronor to the Danish level of about 150,000 kronor, arguing the risks outweighed the benefits

Nima Gholam Ali Pour, a Sweden Democrat member of parliament who works alongside the party’s immigration spokesperson Ludvig Aspling, said that the party rejected the conclusions of the Inquiry on Return Emigration and would push the government to enact the policy, calling it “the only viable option for those who do not wish to become part of the Swedish society”.

“A proposal is being developed by the Swedish government offices and it’s going to happen in some way,” he told The Local. “We are not going to follow what the inquiry chair has proposed and now we’re negotiating with the government parties over what will be in the proposal.” 

He said that re-emigration was a core part of the far-right party’s vision for a new national immigration policy, much of which is being put into place under the Tidö Agreement – the Sweden Democrats’ collaboration agreement with the governing parties.  

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“The Sweden Democrats believe that there will always be some immigrants who regret their decision to move to Sweden, just as there are many who integrate successfully into the Swedish society,” Ali Pour, himself an immigrant from Iran, said. 

“Those who wish to return need the support and proper conditions from society to do so, rather than being left in permanent marginalisation. Returning to one’s home country is the best outcome for both the individual immigrant if he is dissatisfied and marginalised and for society as a whole.” 

Ali Pour criticised the inquiry’s chair, the economist Joakim Ruist, saying he had failed to provide support for the central claim that raising the emigration grant to 150,000 kronor would make immigrants feel unwelcome and so further deter them from integrating in Swedish society and possibly even push them into crime. 

“This assumption is not substantiated by the inquiry itself and lacks empirical support,” said Ali Pour. “In Denmark, a higher returns allowance has not hindered integration.” 

He said the alternative to stimulating the return of immigrants who have failed to integrate was “migrants living in parallel communities”, which he said was “not an acceptable alternative for the Sweden Democrats”.

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MONEY

How will Sweden’s new budget affect foreign residents?

The Swedish government will present its autumn budget on September 19th, but how will the proposals we know about so far, like measures to attract foreign talent and money for Swedish classes, affect foreigners?

How will Sweden's new budget affect foreign residents?

Measures to attract foreign talent

The budget will include a range of reforms with the aim of improving the Swedish economy and Swedish competitiveness, with special emphasis on attracting talent and promoting investment in the country.

This, among other things, includes 5 million kronor to Visit Sweden in order to promote Swedish tourism, 8 million kronor on attracting foreign talent in 2025, and 16 million kronor to Business Sweden in order to identify and contribute to solving obstacles to investment for Swedish companies and foreign companies in Sweden, as well as attracting strategic investment.

The government will also set aside 10 million kronor in 2025 for an international investment conference, in order to position Sweden as an attractive destination for foreign investment.

Money towards integration and Swedish classes

The government also plans to spend 196 million kronor on increased integration efforts, including three-year intensive courses for children who do not speak any Swedish at home and extra money for after-school fritids clubs to provide Swedish classes for children with foreign backgrounds.

Around 31 million kronor would go towards assisting integration for foreigners who are stay-at-home parents, especially women, in order to assist them in finding work. This would include language lessons, as well as study and career advice for refugees in particular, as well as other women born abroad.

Another 4 million kronor of the 196 million kronor total would go towards mapping foreigners’ Swedish skills – reading, writing and listening – in order to understand which integration measures would be useful.

Finally, 40 million kronor would go towards language courses for certain key workers, like staff in elderly care homes and preschools, a policy which was originally introduced by the former government in 2021. This would last until 2026.

Tax-free investment savings accounts

ISKs (Investment Savings Accounts) were introduced in 2012 as a way for people in Sweden to easily invest in shares and funds. An estimated 3.5 million people in Sweden have an ISK, with 75 percent of these accounts having a balance of 300,000 kronor or less.

Currently, they’re not subject to capital gains tax, but they are instead taxed at a fixed rate – known as schablonsskatt – an annual rate paid on the entire value of the sum held.

Under the new proposal, tax on ISKs, as well as KFs, another type of investment savings account taxed in the same way, would be scrapped for any accounts with a balance of less than 150,000 kronor from next year, rising to 300,000 in 2026. 

For foreigners living and working in Sweden, this will make saving in equities, bonds, and funds while resident in Sweden significantly more attractive.

As the new Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) is also included, anyone living in Sweden can even keep their tax-free savings accounts when moving to another EU country – even if they’re not an EU citizen.

Tax cuts

Sweden’s government has announced plans to increase jobbskatteavdraget or employment tax credit, a rebate given to everyone who has a job.

If you have a job in Sweden and do not depend on benefits for your income, you qualify for the tax credit, which was brought in in 2007 to ensure that people would always be better off in work than on benefits.

As a percentage of income, those on the lowest salaries get the biggest tax reduction, with the maximum tax reduction next year set at 10,633 kronor. 

You can see a breakdown of how people in different income brackets will be affected by the increase in this article.

People on the median salary of 462,000 kronor per year (38,500 kronor a month) will see their tax bill shrink by 3,671 kronor.

The reduction will be applied automatically and is available to everyone who works and does not receive benefits, whether you’re a Swedish citizen or not.

Pensioners won’t be left out either – they’ll see tax cuts equivalent to the employment tax credit, to ensure they’re not worse off than people in work.

Plans to curb migration

The government has also announced plans to allocate over 4.4 billion kronor to restricting migration over the next three years: 513 million in 2025, rising to 2.5 billion in 2026 and 1.35 billion in 2027.

A large share of this – 1.4 billion in 2026 – will go towards encouraging migrants to return home voluntarily, a scheme which is only available to refugees, quota refugees, people in need of subsidiary protection on the grounds of exceptionally distressing circumstances, or family of these groups.

The rest of the funds will go towards reducing fraud and misuse of the system and an increase in checks on foreigners in the country, the government has said.

Funds to combat unemployment

Sweden’s unemployment rate is currently at its highest level in ten years, not counting the pandemic. The government is therefore planning a package of budget measures to try and combat this, including 900 million kronor to regional vocational training for adults – around 11,000 more study places. 

The measures also include raising the grant for supervisors offering apprenticeship training, as well as 79 million kronor for the Public Employment Agency to support people who have been out of work for a long time.

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