Where's Wahid? Sweden Worried by Over 45,000 Missing Asylum Seekers

Swedish police have warned that as many as 46,000 migrants who have been denied asylum in Sweden may go underground after their claims are rejected, Svenska Dagbladet reported.

Sweden's Migration Agency expects tens of thousands of people to be refused the right to stay in the country up to 2019, and Swedish police have warned that many of them may stay in the country illegally and avoid detection, Svenska Dagbladet reported on Saturday.

According to Sweden's Migration Agency, over the next three years more than 60,000 failed asylum cases could be handed over to the police. However, the agency expects 46,000 people to slip off the radar after having their applications rejected.

The figures are based on migration projections the Migration Agency made in February; the agency expects 100,000 asylum applications in 2016 and 75,000 the following year.

"There is a huge amount of people who will disappear. It is very problematic," national border police commander Per Lowenberg told Svenska Dagbladet.

"We only find about 10 to 20 percent of those who abscond." 

In 2015 nearly 163,000 people sought asylum in Sweden; in October alone, the country saw 39,196 arrivals. As of January 2016, the country had a population of 9.86 million.

Svenska Dagbladet reported that last year the authorities refused 10,627 asylum applications. Approximately 2,627 of them were forced to leave the country, but 7,331 disappeared and are wanted by the police.