STOCKHOLM, Sep. 3 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's plans to build youth care homes in Morocco in order to encourage young Moroccan asylum seekers to return home has been put on hold after Germany withdrew from the project.
In February, Sweden's then home affairs minister Anders Ygeman announced that Sweden and Germany would jointly invest in building youth centers in Morocco in order to be able to send back migrants who had been denied asylum in Sweden or Germany but remained in the two countries, often living on the streets, becoming addicted to drugs and supporting themselves through crime, Swedish Television (SVT)reported Sunday.
The idea behind the youth centers was that, by providing homes and care for the young migrants in Morocco, Sweden and Germany would make it easier for the country to accept them.
However now, six months after the initiative was first announced, it appears to have run aground.
"The Germans are no longer interested," Sweden's minister for justice and home affairs Morgan Johansson told Swedish Television. "So it is not possible to carry out the project, which has been put on ice."
According to Johansson, the Swedish government has been trying other approaches, such as talking directly with Moroccan authorities. He said Morocco is now agreeing to accept more returnees than in the past. "While there won't be any youth homes, we are still pleased that more and more are returning now," said Johansson.
Statistics reviewed by Swedish Television show that in about 18 months, 441 Moroccans have been deported from Sweden. A total 178 were deported to Morocco and 253 were deported to other European countries.
Most of the 441 Moroccans were between 18 and 30 years old, but a total 53 were under 18. Out of those, 48 minors were deported to other EU countries in accordance with the Dublin agreement and five were sent to Morocco.
However, Per Lofvenberg of the Swedish border police, said that the figures are misleading and that in many cases, the migrants are older than they stated in Sweden.
We can confirm that in 80 percent of cases, these people have given a different identity in Sweden than their real one. In 90 percent of cases, they are adults despite having previously claimed to be children," Lofvenberg told Swedish Television.
An estimated 500-800 Moroccans are still in Sweden illegally, according to Swedish authorities.
