Sweden will impose temporary border controls from today (November 12, 2015) to control a record influx of migrants after police warned it was a threat to public order. The moves comes as generous Swedes search their souls and ponder the 100,000 refugees that have arrived in the Nordic land in just 12 months. The controls are a huge turnaround for a country known for its open-door policies that also threw down the gauntlet to other EU nations hit by the migration crisis. The decision by this ‘humanitarian superpower’ underscored how the flow of refugees into the European Union is straining its prized system of open internal borders close to breaking point.
CANADA
The new government in Ottawa is committed to bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees here by the end of the year, a goal that many say seems unrealistic.The Globe and Mail and others have urged more time to make sure there is somewhere for such large numbers to actually live. Germany has warned it could start sending Syrian refugees back to other EU states from which they came, prompting Hungary to insist it would take none.Meanwhile, while Sweden’s neighbour Denmark said it was tightening immigration rules and Slovenia began to emulate Budapest in erecting new border fences.
