Sweden Doubles Forecast of Asylum Seekers Expected This Year

Migration authority now expects 140,000-190,000 arrivals, up from July forecast of 74,000

Sweden’s migration authority on Thursday roughly doubled its forecast for the number of asylum seekers it expects this year, asking for more resources to deal with the influx even as the Nordic nation’s open-arms policy is causing growing political and social tensions.

Between 140,000 and 190,000 asylum seekers are expected this year, the head of the Swedish Migration Agency, Anders Danielsson, told reporters. That compares with a forecast of 74,000 in July. Between 100,000 and 170,000 asylum seekers are expected next year, he said.

Relative to its size, Sweden has attracted more asylum seekers than any other European Union country because its immigration laws are more liberal than those of many other members of the bloc. The country of nine million grants permanent residency to all asylum seekers from Syria and those granted residency can apply immediately for close family members to join them in Sweden.

But Sweden is increasingly straining to cope with the relentless arrivals of migrants, part of one of the biggest flows of displaced people through Europe in decades. Some asylum seekers are to be housed in tents or sports halls because of a lack of suitable accommodation in buildings, the migration agency has said.

Attacks on migrant shelters have multiplied in recent weeks and the Sweden Democrats—long a fringe movement with neo-Nazi roots that has become the country’s third-largest political—are urging the government to tighten the borders.

The political backlash has led Sweden’s Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Löfven to concede the country may not be able to keep welcoming as many migrants.

“The work being carried out is fantastic,” Mr. Löfven said as he visited an asylum center in southern Sweden on Wednesday. “But at the same time it expresses what we know, that we are approaching the limit of our reception capacity.”

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