Sweden, Norway Move to Slow the Pace of Immigration by Chileans Seeking Work

Swedish and Norwegian authorities are taking steps to halt an influx into their countries of Chileans seeking work and a better life. They say many arrive with forged documents in an effort to support their claims for political asylum.

“A few hundred Chileans a year came to Sweden at the beginning of the 1980s,” said Mats Baurmann, a Swedish immigration official. “Last year 4,000 applied for political asylum. Most of them came for economic reasons.”

Economic reasons are not enough for an alien to stay in Sweden or Norway, whose officials are concerned that their liberal refugee policies are being abused.

The problem also involves nationalities, but it is particularly acute among Chileans wanting to join the 17,000 others from their native land who have immigrated as long ago as 1973, when Gen. Augusto Pinochet took power at the head of a military government in Santiago.

Tighter Laws Considered

About 18,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden last year. About 14,000 were accepted, but most of their applications had been pending for at least a year. Altogether Sweden had 37,000 immigrants in 1987, said the government’s Immigration Agency.

The Swedish government reportedly is considering tightening its immigration laws, similar to legislation adopted by Norway in June requiring all visiting Chileans, starting July 1, to obtain entry visas before they arrive.

Norwegian officials, rejecting claims that their move reflected a wave of anti-immigration sentiment among voters, said they wanted only to sift out actual political refugees from the growing tide of people seeking to improve their economic well-being.

Annette Thomessen, head of the Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers, said in Oslo that she supported the new regulations.

Promise of Jobs

She claimed that some travel agents in Chile promise jobs and housing to those who buy tickets to Norway.

“But when they arrive here they get nothing,” she said. “Instead they are sent back deeply in debt.”

Neighboring Denmark, which also has a relaxed immigration policy, has registered no significant increase of requests for asylum from Chileans, a Justice Ministry spokesman in Copenhagen said.

Baurmann, the Swedish official, said that most of the Chilean applicants come from poor areas of their country. They borrow from banks or from relatives to buy a return ticket, which they need if they enter Sweden without a visa, he added.

Documents for Sale

“They arrive saying they are tourists, but after a while they apply for political asylum,” Baurmann said.

Baurmann confirmed Swedish press reports that a would-be immigrant can buy a forged document in Chile that testifies that he or she is a victim of political persecution. The documents usually bear the signature of a purported priest, politician or human rights representative, he said.

The Dagens Nyheter newspaper quoted Luis Bork, the head of the Human Rights Commission in the Chilean city of Valparaiso, as saying: “I have seen my name on more than 200 forged documents. We categorically oppose this kind of exile. People should stay here and fight for democracy. Only if the person is threatened by jail or death do we help.”

Baurmann said that most documents presented by Chileans are authentic but are signed by people without authority or credibility.

65% Allowed to Stay

Swedish authorities “do not deny that there is political oppression in Chile,” but Sweden’s rules must be tightened, he said.

About 65% of the Chileans coming to Sweden are allowed to stay, even though many are rejected for asylum, he said.