A Syrian passport is examined to see whether it is genuine at a refugee centre in the German city of Heidelberg yesterday (Reuters)

After months of European and international sympathy for the immigrants who arrived via Turkey, especially those fleeing from the war in Syria, things have started to take a turn for the worse especially after some of these immigrants committed crimes including those that took place on New Year’s Eve in the German city of Cologne.

Sweden announced on Wednesday that it intends to deport between 60,000 and 80,000 people whose applications were refused. The government has asked the police and the immigration office to organise the deportations. It is known that about 163,000 refugees applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015 which is the equivalent to 1.3% of the country’s population that amounts to around 9.7 million people.

Holland and a number of European Union countries want to deport migrants who just arrived from Greece to Turkey according to what the head of a government coalition party announced yesterday. The head of the Labour Party Diederik Samsum mentioned that the deported immigrants will be treated in accordance with the rules of UN agreements.

In the Finnish capital of Helsinki, the Interior Ministry announced yesterday that it plans to expel 20,000 immigrants who arrived in the country in 2015. Bifi Narg, the director of the minister of interior’s office, said that Helsinki intends to refuse two thirds of asylum applications made last year that total 32,000. She added that “In principle, there are two-thirds; approximately 65% of 32,000 applications will receive a negative response”.