Sweden Implements Border Controls to Prevent Illegal Entries

Swedish officials say the introduction of temporary border controls will help it register new arrivals and prevent people from staying in the country illegally.

Fredrik Bengtsson, spokesman for the Swedish Migration Agency, says the agency is currently picking up people by bus at the border and driving them to its offices, but "once they get there quite a lot don't enter and get registered but disappear."

Bengtsson said it is too early to say whether the number of migrants arriving in the Scandinavian country will go down and added it could even increase, if people who would otherwise have traveled to Norway and Finland decide to apply for asylum in Sweden instead.

Sweden announced earlier Wednesday it would introduce temporary border controls from noon local time Thursday until Nov. 21 to stem the large influx of migrants.