weekly blitz Published on September 16, 2022
A recent survey reveals, that over 79 per cent of asylum-seekers and refugees in Sweden, the majority of whom are Muslims have vacationed in their home country since fleeing to Europe by making false claims that their lives are at risk in their home countries.
A survey conducted by polling firm Novus on behalf of the Swedish online newspaper Bulletin revealed that 79 per cent of refugees who claim to be fleeing war or persecution have voluntarily returned to their home country since making the trip to Sweden.
The Swedish Migration Agency has pointed out: Refugee status can be revoked if it turns out that the person no longer needs international protection from their home country or if they have provided incorrect information about such a need”.
In Switzerland, an asylum seeker who returns home without special permission from the government risks losing their residence permit in the country.
Similarly, in Germany, a statement by then-Interior Minister Horst Seehofer in 2019 warned refugees they would face an investigation and could be stripped of their right to residency should they travel back to their homeland.
“If someone, a Syrian refugee, regularly vacations in Syria, he cannot honestly claim to be persecuted in Syria”, he said at the time.
In Norway, Aftenposten reported in 2018 that 24 per cent of immigrants from Somalia, 40 per cent of immigrants from Afghanistan, 55 per cent from Iran and 71 per cent from Iraq regularly travelled to their home country. According to Aftenposten, the data had been produced by Norway’s statistical authority SSB. A difference with Bulletins/Novus is that the Norwegian figures are the proportion of immigrants who regularly vacation in their home country. In contrast, the Swedish figures report those who travelled at least once.
Even in Germany, asylum seekers’ holiday trips to the home country became a political issue, as holiday trips were considered incompatible with the claim that one is fleeing for one’s life and seeking refuge in Germany due to danger in the home country. In a statement in 2019, Germany’s then-interior minister Horst Seehofer warned refugees that they would be investigated and stripped of their residence permits when travelling to their homeland.
“If someone, a Syrian refugee, regularly vacations in Syria, he cannot honestly claim to be persecuted in Syria”, he said, adding “we would have to strip him of his refugee status”.
According to DW, for example, investigations in 2016 led to 66 refugees from Iraq and Syria being stripped of their residence permits and were no longer considered to be in need of protection when they had gone on trips to their homeland.
Do refugees travel to their home countries on vacation?
The German media has reported that refugees have been vacationing in the countries from where they fled persecution. How often has this happened, and what types of consequences exist for the refugees who do this?
Chancellor Merkel has threatened refugees who travel to their countries with consequences for their actions. She told the "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper on August 27 that this was unacceptable and that it may be "a reason to reconsider the right to asylum." Source DW
