Refugees Unwelcome: Sweden Extends Border Controls Until February 11

Stockholm decided to extend border controls for another three months. The border controls were set up to deal with the influx of refugees.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Sweden's government decided to prolong the temporary controls on the borders introduced due to the influx of refugees into the country for additional three months, until February 11, 2017, Minister for Home Affairs Anders Ygeman said Friday.

"The government has made a decision today to extend border control for three more months," Ygeman said on his Twitter.

Sweden set up border controls in November 2015 and later added ID checks as a way to control the influx of the migrants. The checkpoints were created in a number of Swedish ports and at the Oresund bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark, according to the Local newspaper.

In 2015, Sweden received about 163,000 asylum seekers. In 2016, the number dropped to about 30,000 requests for asylum.

Europe has had to deal with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants from the Middle East and North Africa fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty. Many migrants have arrived by sea to the shores of maritime states and try to move further to wealthier European countries, such as Germany and Sweden.