Sweden and Denmark have moved to drastically reduce inward refugee flows, as Scandinavian countries compete with each other to shed their reputations as havens for asylum seekers.
For the first time since the 1950s, from midnight on Sunday travellers by train, bus or boat have needed to present a valid photo ID, such as a passport, to enter Sweden from its southern neighbour Denmark, with penalties for travel operators who fail to impose checks. Passengers who fail to present a satisfactory document will be turned back.
“The government now considers that the current situation, with a large number of people entering the country in a relatively short time, poses a serious threat to public order and national security,” the government said in a statement accompanying legislation enabling the border controls.
Hours after the Swedish checks were introduced, Denmark announced it had stepped up border controls on its southern boundary with Germany.
Sweden’s move marked a turning point for the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, which earlier presented itself as a beacon to people fleeing conflict and terror in Asia and the Middle East.
“My Europe takes in people fleeing from war, my Europe does not build walls,” the Swedish prime minister, Stefan Löfven, told crowds in Stockholm on 6 September. But three months and about 80,000 asylum seekers later, the migration minister told parliament: “The system cannot cope.” » | David Crouch in Copenhagen | Monday, January 4, 2016
