The Local has recently reported on new developments in Swedish Iraqi refugee policy:
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Tuesday criticized Sweden’s policy of deporting rejected Iraqi asylum seekers to the southern and central regions of their home country.
Since July 2007, Swedish immigration authorities have ruled that Iraqis from the southern and central regions of the country have to prove they are personally threatened in their country to be given residency.
The UN agency criticized, among other things, the fact that the agreement makes no distinction about whether the rejected asylum seekers come from the northern parts of Iraq, or the more volatile southern and central parts.
Sweden has been very accepting of Iraqi refugees, but now seems to be slowly pulling back the welcome mat. While Sweden has been the most gracious Western country in this crisis, perhaps it has overextended and has realized it cannot support the thousands of Iraqi refugees it currently hosts. However, for the sake of these Iraqis lives, perhaps Sweden ought to allow these refugees stay until a robust solution to this crisis takes hold. Hopefully, the US will take the lead in the next presidential administration.