Sweden to Deport up to 80,000 Asylum-Seekers

Interior Minister Anders Ygeman says Sweden could deport between 60,000 and 80,000 asylum-seekers in coming years.

A policeman watches over a queue of newly arrived people at Hyllie Station, outside Malmo, Sweden, on Nov. 19, 2015. Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP

STOCKHOLM—Interior Minister Anders Ygeman says Sweden could deport between 60,000 and 80,000 asylum-seekers in coming years.

Ygeman told newspaper Dagens Industri that since about 45 percent of asylum applications are currently rejected, the country must get ready to send back tens of thousands of the 163,000 who sought shelter in Sweden last year.

“I think that it could be about 60,000 people, but it could also be up to 80,000,” Ygeman was quoted as saying.

Sweden's Interior Minister Anders Ygeman announces that the government will impose temporary border controls as the Nordic country struggles to receive tens of thousands of refugees in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 11, 2015. Henrik Montgomery/TT via AP