Syrian Asylum Seekers – Nordic countries have reached the political limit

Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, countries that long set the standard for welcoming refugees from war and persecution, are rapidly rethinking their generosity as the tide of migrants to Europe strains their budgets and roils their politics.

The abrupt change in the Nordic nations is one of the most striking consequences of the surge into Europe of asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Africa and elsewhere this year. Sweden announced on Wednesday that it would temporarily reintroduce border controls, a move intended to bring order to the process of arrivals, officials said.

Some experts say that despite their long tradition of humanitarianism, the Nordic nations are simply facing facts.

“They realized they had reached the political limit of what could be done,” said Demetrios G. Papademetriou, the president of the Migration Policy Institute of Europe. “This is going to cost an untold amount of money, and these countries are not wealthy like Germany. They had to turn back.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Nordic Countries, Overwhelmed by Migrants, Retreat From Generous Traditions – The New York Times