Minister of Migration Tobias Billstrom of Sweden
Syria said that more than one million Iraqi refugees were now residing in the country, accounting for over half of the total exodus who fled the war-wracked Iraq.
Billstrom said Greece is the most common port of entry in the Schengen zone for illegal immigrants, but most of them end up in Sweden, which has a reputation for being the friendliest to refugees.
Billstrom said that about 300 of those who were rejected voluntarily returned to Iraq in the first four months of the year because of the improved security situation in that country.
demands for compensation from Mohammed al-Zari.
Once the new rules are in place, an employer who is not able to meet labour needs through recruitment in Sweden or in the European Union will be able to recruit labour from any other country, Sweden's Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billstrom said at an interactive session organised by FICCI here.
Billstrom met Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes to apprise them of the new immigration rules.
He and Billstrom had received many questions about Swedish refugee policy and "raised means to aid people who want to return - not the least to rebuild the Kurdish regions in the north - to the need of an agreement to assist those who cannot be accepted within the framework of our basically generous refugee policy.
In an interview with the newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, Billstrom said that all failed asylum seekers should leave the country.
Billstrom said Sweden hosts between 80,000 and 100,000 Iraqis who have fled the violence sweeping the country.
Billstrom said the new rules would bring Swedish immigration law in line with other European Union members.
came to be dominated by asylum seekers.
The proposal presented by Billstrom was to be debated by trade unions, employers and other interest groups.
Billstrom said the proposed system would follow legislation that specifies that positions should first be filled by workers in Sweden, and if that fails by workers from other European Union members or workers from the European Economic Area.
unions, employers and other interest groups.
workers from the European Economic Area.
Billstrom said that while prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has made clear that he was keeping the policy under review, there was little likelihood of a change of heart.
Billstrom said he would raise the issue with colleagues on Thursday at an EU ministers' meeting in Brussels, although the question is not on the formal agenda.
Billstrom said the picture was a mixed one.
Such a situation is nefarious, and Billstrom knows it.
Immigration minister Billstrom has also admitted not paying his TV licence fee for several years.
The moment they hand in an application as asylum-seekers, they receive legal status," Swedish Migration Minister Tobias Billstrom said in an interview.