{
  "id": 6420000,
  "title": "'Do you miss Mogadishu?' Sweden offers foreign-born residents $37,000 to leave",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/do-you-miss-mogadishu-sweden-offers-foreign-born-residents-37-000-to-6420000",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-09T11:45:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/europe/2026/09/09/do-you-miss-mogadishu-sweden-offers-foreign-born-residents-37000-to-leave/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As Sweden intensifies its crackdown on migration, the government is offering foreign-born residents who are legally permitted to reside in the country $37,000 to return to their native nations. Sweden once boasted a reputation as one of Europe’s most welcoming nations to asylum seekers, with 163,000 refugees arriving in 2015, a figure that plummeted by 96 per cent by last year. Migration now looms large over the upcoming general election, and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s centre-right coalition is employing a tough stance to fend off a challenge from the centre-left opposition led by the Social Democrats.\n\nKristersson, head of the Moderate Party, emphasizes that curbing migration is a top priority for his government. The scheme, which carries a budget of $135.6 million, has garnered strong support from the far-right Sweden Democrats, who have even launched a campaign featuring the slogan, \"Do you miss Mogadishu? The remigration grant will help you get home.\"\n\nIn the first half of this year, 171 individuals have taken advantage of the cash incentive to leave the country. However, some Swedes remain skeptical of the scheme. For instance, Elena Ibrahim, a 42-year-old Sudanese woman, refuses to accept the offer, stating, \"I want freedom, to be able to work and live a good life.\" She has since remarried and currently works as an artist. Mahmoud Khalfi, imam at Stockholm's largest mosque, expresses concern over the divisive impact of the return policy, as well as the increasingly polarizing debates surrounding immigration.\n\nThe government has also tightened rules for immigrants, including discontinuing permanent residence permits and forcing them to reapply after three years. Nevertheless, the drastic shift in Sweden's migration policy has raised questions, particularly within the healthcare sector, where a significant portion of professionals are immigrants. Dr. Davoud Javid, a senior specialist at NU Hospital Group, highlights that around a third of specialist doctors and 53 per cent of nursing assistants were born abroad. He laments the hardening tone in Sweden and the heightened polarization in the public discourse, citing recent deportations as a grim example of the consequences of tightening immigration rules.",
  "summary": "Sweden is offering residents born abroad who have the right to live in the country $37,000 to return to their countries, as part of a crackdown on migration. The Scandinavian nation was once seen as the most welcoming to asylum seekers and took in 163,000 refugees in 2015, the second-highest per capita in Europe, but by last year that number had fallen by 96 per cent. Migration is set to be a…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "'Do you miss Mogadishu?' Sweden offers foreign-born residents $37,000 to leave",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/do-you-miss-mogadishu-sweden-offers-foreign-born-residents-37-000-to",
        "published": "2026-09-09T11:45:33.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}