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Sweden temporarily exempted from EU's refugee relocation scheme

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sweden could be exempted from refugee relocation scheme of the European Union (EU) as the country battles to cope with the strain of processing record numbers of asylum seekers.

The European Commission, EU's top executive body, proposed on Tuesday to grant Sweden a one-year suspension from its refugee redistribution quotas, in view of "the unique strain on its capacities created by the sharp increase in applications for international protection".

"The Commission has proposed to grant Sweden a one-year suspension of its obligations, to allow its asylum and reception system to recover from the exceptional burden it is under."EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said.

According to the Relocation Schemes adopted in September 2015, a member state could request the temporary suspension of its obligations in the case of a sharp shift of migration flows creating an emergency situation and a sudden inflow of third country nationals.

Sweden previously agreed to take around 5,800 people as part of the EU's scheme to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers arriving in Italy and Greece. However, refugees poured into Sweden as European influx rises this year, and the country was struggling to provide enough accommodation for new arrivals.

Eurostat figures confirmed such a sharp increase of asylum applications in Sweden.

From 1 January to 31 October 2014, Sweden received 68,245 applications for international protection, while for the same period in 2015 it received 112,040 applications.

The number of monthly applications in August 2015 was 11,735, which more than doubled to 24,261 in September 2015, and increased by a further 61 percent to 39,055 applications in October 2015.

"Sweden is facing an emergency situation characterized by a sudden inflow of third country nationals creating severe problems for its asylum system," European Commission said in a statement.

Sweden has the highest number of applicants for international protection per capita in the EU. Meanwhile, the country welcomed more asylum applicants per capita than any other EU country in 2014. Enditem