Sweden to ask EU relocate some of its migrants

Sweden is to ask Brussels to relocate to other EU countries some of the asylum seekers it has taken in as it struggles with a huge influx, the premier said on Wednesday.

"Sweden has taken a disproportionately large responsibility in comparison with other countries in the EU, and now we are extremely strained," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a written statement.

"It is time that other countries take responsibility and that is why the government requires redistribution of refugees from Sweden."

Under an EU plan, nearly 160,000 migrants are to be shared among EU countries after being processed at so-called "hotspots" in Italy and Greece.

Out of this total, Hungary has been given the option to relocate 54,000 migrants but has rejected the plan.

According to the Swedish news agency TT, Sweden wants to use part of the Hungarian quota to relocate its asylum seekers.

Stockholm's request to the EU is not expected to contain any precise figures on how many migrants it wants to relocate from Sweden.

A first group of 30 refugees left Greece under the relocation scheme on Wednesday -- a tiny fraction of the 160,000 people subject to the quota system.

The Swedish Migration Agency has said the country has been receiving so many migrants and refugees -- at a rate of 10,000 a week -- that its capacities are being strained and it is beginning to erect tents to house some of the arrivals.

Sweden, a country of 9.8 million, was expecting to receive up to 190,000 asylum seekers this year -- putting it among the EU states with the highest proportion of refugees per capita as the continent struggles with a massive influx of migrants.

Caption: An Eritrean refugee on Friday boarded a plane in Rome bound for Sweden as part of a plan to move 160,000 asylum seekers.

Photo Credit: www.nytimes.com