MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, Swedish Democrats party leader Jimmie Akesson said that a referendum should be held on the country's immigration policy.
Leader of France’s National Front party, Marine Le Pen, has called for the closing of the country’s borders to stop the migrant influx.
“We don’t believe that closing borders is the right answer to solving the problems. However, we do believe that reducing the asylum and family related immigration by about 90 percent from today’s numbers is needed,” Markus Wiechel, who is also a member of the Swedish parliament, said.
Wiechel said that a 90-percent decrease would bring Sweden in line with other EU countries in respect to immigration levels.
“A certain number of immigrants are needed for our society to keep developing. Our country, however, needs to develop certain requirements for those moving to Sweden and also make sure that they adapt to and assimilate into our society,” Wiechel said.
Swedish taxpayers have a legal right to express their opinion on the country’s immigration policy in a referendum, Markus Wiechel said.
“Sweden has the most liberal asylum laws in Europe. Considering our generous welfare policy, this combination costs a lot of money. We believe that the taxpayers should be able to decide if they think it is worth the cost, since the government keeps raising the taxes at the same time as the welfare services are getting worse,” Markus Wiechel said.
Wiechel explained that as a large number of migrants chose to come to Sweden, the country’s welfare is getting more expensive.
“Sadly, the government has chosen to raise our taxes instead of cutting the migration flow. In addition to reducing the migration flow, there are a number of changes we need to do in order for Sweden to move back on track,” he said.
“Helping refugees is important, wherever you are. We do believe that the most effective way to help refugees is by working together, especially by working with the United Nations so that we could build and support refugee camps close to what is considered crisis-areas,” Markus Wiechel said.
Wiechel said that the Swedish Democrats seek to retain the Dublin Regulation on migration and support the countries in Europe that accept an excessive number of refugees.
“The EU should work harder to stop illegal immigration and to stop criminal gangs that smuggle refugees into Europe. By stopping these gangs we could save thousands of lives and focus on helping those that have the biggest need of help,” Wiechel said.
