To this week's minister meeting in Luxembourg, Forssell has brought a letter to Denmark urging them to act on the issue when the country takes over as chair of the EU's council of ministers from July 1.
–I have good hopes that the Danes will gather support for this. We notice that this is very prioritised: return in general, but Syrians in particular, says Forssell at a digital meeting with TT and SR Ekot.
The push comes after the EU lifted its sanctions against Syria in the hope that the country can get back on its feet again after almost 14 years of civil war. This opens up for around 800,000 Syrians in the EU to be able to return to Syria, people who for example have temporary residence permits or lack EU citizenship. For Sweden, it's about around 20,000 people.
–Especially important will be this for people from Syria who have committed crimes. And who we don't want to keep in Sweden, says Forssell.
He can for example think of joint flights for deportations and easier ways for Syrians to do home visits, but also that EU countries make similar assessments of who has the right to stay.
