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Migrant flow into Sweden drops as border checks brought back

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AFP Stockholm
Last Updated : Nov 21 2015 | 7:48 PM IST
The number of new migrant arrivals in Sweden has dropped by a third since it reinstated border controls earlier this month, the country's migration agency said today.
"The number of (new) asylum seekers has decreased from 1,500 a day to some 900 since border controls were reintroduced" on November 12, the Swedish Migration Agency said in a statement.
Worsening weather conditions may have also contributed to the decline, it added.
Short-staffed authorities still face a backlog of applications submitted before the controls were reintroduced, the agency said.
The restrictions are likely to be extended to December 11, the interior ministry has said.
Long a preferred destination for people fleeing war and poverty, Sweden like several other EU countries reinstated border controls in a bid to gain control over the unprecedented influx.
A country of 9.8 million people, Sweden has taken in more refugees as a proportion of its population than any other country in Europe.

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First Published: Nov 21 2015 | 7:48 PM IST

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