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In an interview with SVT on Saturday, Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S) said that the number of Swedes trapped in the world and has indicated that they want help getting home is now between 1,000 and 1,500. To date, around 7,000 Swedes have received assistance to fly to Sweden.
“Now we only have The Gambia left where we don’t have the Swedes at home,” said the foreign minister, according to the SVT website.
Swedish stayed stranded in other countries contact the DN and explain that what Linde said is not true.
Although it may look like some commercial flights on the companies’ websites, it is only in theory. The few plans that seem to depart at irregular intervals are constantly being established, so in practice many Swedes remain stuck even in countries like New Zealand and South Africa.
– We are now on our eleventh ticket, says Christer Enkler at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, who along with his wife are trying to find a way to get to Sweden.
In New Zealand, Lone Petersen, 22, doesn’t have a chance to go home. Her mother Cecilia Petersen claims to have spent around SEK 20,000 on tickets for her daughter, tickets that burned inside.
– I am not a low-income person, but I feel that my resources are depleting. I have to save until the day they say it costs 100,000 to take her home. So I have to do that, she says, and asks the authorities for advice:
– I want to know if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can ensure transportation to your home or at least give adequate advice, rather than continue booking, because it does not work.
Ann Linde Press Secretary Mikael Lindström tells DN that the statement in SVT has been removed from a longer argument. The Foreign Ministry is well aware that Swedes are trapped in many other places than in The Gambia.
– The Gambia is currently the last particularly difficult place where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering the possibility of traveling home with assistance, then with flights from other EU countries where, hopefully, more Swedes can stay. The Foreign Ministry does not say it will be the last.
So far, Sweden has started 17 flights to help people return home. Citizens of other EU countries, Norway and the UK have also been there. Similarly, some 250 flights organized by other EU countries have been able to bring Swedish citizens with them.
– In the current situation, we have prioritized places where opportunities to return home have been exhausted and where the situation for Swedish travelers has been considered particularly serious, says Lindström.
For example, in India and Peru, for example, it has been difficult to obtain permission to enter and leave the country.
On Monday, there was an assisted exit from Chile and Bolivia.
Lindström also emphasizes that the situation is changing rapidly.
– We notice smoothed restrictions. The Foreign Ministry is closely following developments.
In South Africa Christer Enkler becomes increasingly concerned about the situation on the ground. He and his wife generally spend winters in the country, so they are used to being there. But now the situation is scary, he says.
– The president has not appeared in two weeks. People chase people on deserted beaches with dogs. People are afraid.
According to Enkler, another Swede in the country has explored interest in arranging air travel to Stockholm on his own if possible and received 300 responses.
– Everyone is desperate to go home.
