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Sweden to deport thousands of asylum seekers

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Swedish police are looking to deport thousands of asylum seekers who have had their applications denied, local media reported on Thursday.

Around 22,000 migrants are due to be deported as Sweden eyes bilateral agreements with several countries to better facilitate their returns, daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.

"We politicians have to do more to ensure that the return agreements are in place," Interior Minister Anders Ygeman told the paper.

Sweden is currently in talks with Afghanistan, whose President Ashraf Ghani is set to visit Stockholm on Friday, about an agreement to send back rejected asylum applicants.

The Swedish government has also approached Tunisian and Algerian authorities but have yet to meet with representatives of Morrocco, Ygeman said.

An investigation by public broadcaster Swedish Television in September showed that hundreds of migrant minors roam Swedish streets. Many of them had travelled from Morocco with hopes of supporting their families.

The number of asylum applications to Sweden have hit record levels this year, with 150,000 submitted so far in 2015, nearly double the total figure in 2014, according to the country's migration agency.

Last month, the Swedish government imposed temporary border controls and said they could remain in place until May next year. Endit