Sweden can handle the upturn, the European country's migration minister has said, as he cited human rights accords to rule out curbing refugees' freedom of movement.
Sweden is the only country to give Syrian refugees automatic residence, but has struggled to house them and faces warnings of a coming surge in arrivals.
Tobias Billstroem, the migration minister, acknowledged that accommodation was a problem and noted that Sweden had a housing shortage regardless of its refugee intake.
"All municipalities have to show solidarity," said Billstroem, adding that the same applied to Europe.
"We see problems with the fact that two countries - Sweden and Germany, which are not European Union border states - are accepting a disproportionate number of Syrians arriving in Europe.
"You only need to turn on your TV or open a newspaper to see pictures of the bloody conflict in Syria and be reminded why everyone has to take their share of the responsibility."
Billstroem has promised extra funding to Soedertaelje and other councils, but Boel Godner, a Social Democratic mayor said it would not be enough.
Some analysts say the rise of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats Party (SD), which has about 10 percent in the polls, is to blame and that Sweden is in denial about the potential impact of its generous migration policy.
Adam Cwejman, from the centre-right think tank Timbro, said there had been high public support for a generous and liberal migration policy,but at the same time the SD had polarised the debate.
"They are driving the other parties into a more hard-line (liberal) position," Cwejman
said.
[AFP]