More asylum-seekers showing up at border after Sweden abandons ID checks

Although the number of new people seeking asylum in Sweden was down, border police in southern Sweden noticed an immediate rise in the number of people seeking asylum there, Swedish public television broadcaster SVT reported Monday.

The trend emerged after ID checks were abandoned on early Thursday morning for those arriving on train, bus and ferry to Sweden from Denmark.

From an average of five asylum seekers per week earlier this year, the number increased to 24 people seeking asylum at the border.

This weekend 88 people were refused entry into Sweden at the border controls in the south. According to Michael Mattson, head of the border police there, most of the people have residency permits in Denmark.

"I think this is just the beginning of what is to come. When the message that border ID checks are gone, we will see the impact in Sweden," he told Radio Sweden.

According to the Swedish Migration Agency statistics do not show an increase.

Last week, 328 people sought asylum in Sweden. That is a reduction compared with the preceding week, when 384 people sought asylum here.

Sweden tightened its borders control during the migration crisis in 2015, when there was a huge influx of refugees. In January 2016, ID checks were introduced. Ferry, train and airport personnel did the identification checks, Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan reported online. Endit