Explained: Sweden is offering $34,000 grant to migrants from 2026 to go home. What is it?

Sweden has long been known for its open-arm policy towards migrants, but it changed when Sweden Democrats won the 2022 election. The party started giving grants of 10,000 krona ($978) per person and capped it at 40,000 krona ($4,265) to people who voluntarily left the country. The grant has now been increased by 35 times to 350,000 krona or $34,000 per person, with no cap announced for a family. The policy will come into force next year in 2026, but it is against the advice of the government-appointed panel.

Why is Sweden offering $34,000 to migrants?

Sweden is following the larger European response to migration from war-torn areas across the world. It has now increased the previous grant of 10,000 krona ($978) to 350,000 korna ($34,000) per person to repatriate migrants. The increase comes after only 70 migrants applied for 10k krona grants in 2023 and only one was approved for it. Around 16,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, however, left voluntarily in the same year, reported the New York Times.

“It tells you something about how little known this is,” said Ludvig Aspling, a Member of Parliament from the Sweden Democrats, about the old grant reported NYT. “I think it’s (new grant) pretty generous. We’re basically just trying to help people live their best lives.”

What is Sweden's policy on migrants?

The current government is taking a different stance on the issue of migration as compared to the previous governments. The increased grant has been defined as the aid package and is being seen as a helpful tool in decreasing the administrative hurdles in the previous plan. The new government is taking a stricter stance on migration, residency permits and is focusing more on repatriation.