Sweden lifts border checks as migrant tide becomes a trickle
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Sweden has announced it will lift the systematic identity checks introduced
at the height of the migrant crisis.
The border controls have become a major bugbear for thousands of Danes and Swedes who travel between Malmo and Copenhagen for work.
Sweden to end temporary border controls: Swedish radio https://t.co/iI3I5mMPwS pic.twitter.com/NICNus8xCN
— News Today (@News_Today4) May 2, 2017
The government said it would not abandon frontier checks entirerly, but refocus efforts to monitor crossings.
The flow of migrants has been reduced to a trickle.
Sweden opened its doors to 81,000 asylum seekers in 2014,which rocketed to 163,000 the following year.
In 2016 the numbers fell to 29,000 and the same is expected for this year.
Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway maintain internal Schengen border controls despite scant evidence … https://t.co/Gm1gU1wGBk pic.twitter.com/cnuFxCSAHX
— Republic Buzz (@republicbuzz) April 14, 2017
Meanwhile, the European Commission has called on Germany, Austria, Denmark and Norway to lift border controls within six months.