Only 171 people had taken Sweden up on its offer of up to 350,000 kronor to leave the country this year, Reuters reported, even though the government set aside 1.3 billion kronor for the program. The count came days before Sweden votes on 13 September, with immigration high on the campaign agenda.
What the grant pays
The expanded “repatriation grant” took effect on 1 January, Vision Times reported, citing the Swedish Migration Agency. It applies to certain people holding temporary or permanent residence permits who agree to move to their country of origin or another country where they have the right to live. Adults can receive up to 350,000 kronor. Children get 25,000 kronor, couples up to 500,000 kronor, and a household as much as 600,000 kronor.
The money cannot be used to move elsewhere in the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Applicants must have the right to settle where they are going.
The idea itself is old. Sweden has paid for voluntary repatriation since 1984. What changed is the size of the payment under Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s government. WION, citing the New York Times, reported that the earlier grant stood at 10,000 kronor per person and that the increase made it 35 times larger. The government also added checks to stop fraudulent claims and improper payments.
Government and critics
Migration Minister Johan Forssell said the scheme offers people who have struggled to integrate an “opportunity for a fresh start in their country of origin.” Maria Mindhammar, the Migration Agency’s director-general, said the new rules give “stronger support for those who wish to start fresh” outside Sweden.
Critics call it a gesture more than a tool. Bram Frouws, director of the Mixed Migration Centre, told Reuters there was little evidence that such programs trigger large increases in voluntary departures. He described Sweden’s approach as “mainly symbolic.”
The earlier version drew few takers either. According to WION’s account of the New York Times report, only 70 migrants applied for the old 10,000-kronor grant in 2023 and just one was approved, while about 16,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia left voluntarily that year without it.
The Sweden Democrats want more
The Sweden Democrats, who back Kristersson’s government in parliament, want to go further. The party has proposed extending payments to some immigrants who already hold Swedish citizenship, provided they give it up and leave. Its migration spokesman, Ludvig Aspling, said Sweden has immigrants who “have not successfully found their place in Sweden.” Of the old grant he told the New York Times: “I think it’s pretty generous. We’re basically just trying to help people live their best lives.”
Many immigrants Reuters interviewed said they had no plans to go. Elena Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman who fled to Sweden eight years ago and now works as an artist, put it plainly: “I will not go back.”
The shift is large. Sweden took in about 163,000 asylum seekers during the 2015 migration crisis, the second-highest rate per capita in Europe. By 2025, Reuters reported, arrivals had dropped by about 96 percent. Roughly 2 million of the country’s 10.6 million residents were born abroad.
Sources
- Sweden Offers Immigrants Up to $37,000 to Leave the Country – Vision Times
- Explained: Sweden is offering $34,000 grant to migrants from 2026 to go home. What is it?
