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The temporary tent camp organized by MSB, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency,
houses about 200 asylum seekers at Revinge outside the city Lund in southern Sweden.
(Drago Prvulovic/AFP/Getty Images)
MALM, Sweden When the small, crumpled body of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi washed
up on the Aegean coast Sept. 2, Europes humanitarian superpower sprang into
action.
Swedens prime minister headlined gala fundraisers, Swedish celebrities starred in
telethons, and a country that prides itself on doing the right thing seemed to rally as
one to embrace refugees fleeing for their lives.
But after taking in more asylum seekers per capita than any other nation in Europe,
Swedens welcome mat now lies in tatters. Overwhelmed by the human tide of 2015,
the center-left government is deploying extraordinary new border controls and slashing
benefits in an unmistakable signal to refugees contemplating the long trek to Sweden
in the new year: Stay out.
Were willing to do more than anyone else, said Swedish Migration Minister Morgan
You have your ID? a police officer asked passengers one recent evening after their
train had traversed the 7.5-mile Oresund Bridge and crossed from Denmark into
Swedish territory.
Five young Afghan men did not. They were given a choice: immediately claim asylum
or catch the next train back to Denmark. Under new rules set to take effect next week,
they may be prevented from reaching Sweden at all.
[As hostility flares, Hungarys Muslim community mobilizes to aid refugees]
The impact of such controls could be felt far beyond Sweden: The countrys dramatic
shift threatens to wreak havoc all the way down Europes migrant trail in 2016 by
setting off a domino effect in which countries seal their borders for fear that their
neighbors will do the same.
Barriers have already risen across the continent, primarily in the transit nations for
migrants traveling by land into wealthy Western Europe. Hungary lined its borders with
razor-wire, forcing this autumns unparalleled streams of humanity farther west into
Croatia and Slovenia.
In November, Macedonia introduced strict controls meant to filter out new arrivals from
countries other than Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The policy has left thousands of
people stranded in Greece.
But Swedens abrupt reversal is potentially far more consequential. Across Europe this
year, two countries have stood out for their uncommonly generous reception policies:
Sweden and Germany.
The Syrian conflict has created the largest wave of refugees to hit Europe since World
War II. VIEW GRAPHIC
In ever-polite, welcoming and humanitarian-minded Sweden, the new policies have
triggered intense soul-searching. Announcing the changes in November, the deputy
prime minister choked back tears. Even those charged with implementing the new
restrictions do so with great ambivalence.
I have everything. Theyve left everything, said Anna Loenn, a police officer who led
the checks at the first station on the Swedish side of the Oresund Bridge one recent
evening. Its heartbreaking whats happening.
Yet authorities say the changes were necessary, both for security reasons and to stem
a flow of arrivals that was simply unsustainable.
[In wake of Paris attacks, refugees fear backlash]
Investigators now say that at least three of the attackers in the deadly Nov. 13 assault
on Paristraveled from Syria via Greece, exploiting some of the same routes into
But he doesnt blame Sweden, which he said is doing its best under the circumstances.
Nor does he regret leaving behind the war that has engulfed his native land.
I have no choice. Its either here or the hell of there, he said. I couldnt stay in
Syria.
Faiola reported from Berlin. Karla Adam in London and Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin
contributed to this report.
Read more
New U.N. report says worlds refugee crisis is worse than anyone expected
3 important facts about how the U.S. resettles Syrian refugees
Britain takes in so few refugees from Syria they would fit on a subway train
Read The Posts coverage on the global surge in migration
Griff Witte is The Posts London bureau chief. He previously served as the papers
deputy foreign editor and as the bureau chief in Kabul, Islamabad and Jerusalem.
Anthony Faiola is The Post's Berlin bureau chief. Faiola joined the Post in 1994, since
then reporting for the paper from six continents and serving as bureau chief in Tokyo,
Buenos Aires, New York and London.
Posted by Thavam