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Sweden introduces new border checks to stem migrant flow

A security staff checks the ID of a passenger at the train station Copenhagen International Airport in Kastrup to prevent illegal migrants entering Sweden on Monday Jan. 4, 2016. Sweden requires train companies with service across a bridge-and-tunnel link from Denmark to refuse passengers without ID. (Miriam Dalsgaard/Polfoto via AP)
A security staff checks the ID of a passenger at the train station Copenhagen International Airport in Kastrup to prevent illegal migrants entering Sweden on Monday Jan. 4, 2016. Sweden requires train companies with service across a bridge-and-tunnel link from Denmark to refuse passengers without ID. (Miriam Dalsgaard/Polfoto via AP) A security staff checks the ID of a passenger at the train station Copenhagen International Airport in Kastrup to prevent illegal migrants entering Sweden on Monday Jan. 4, 2016. Sweden requires train companies with service across a bridge-and-tunnel link from Denmark to refuse passengers without ID. (Miriam Dalsgaard/Polfoto via AP)

By Associated Press 1 min read

STOCKHOLM (AP) – Sweden has introduced new border controls for people entering the country by train, bus or ferry in a bid to stem the flow of migrants.

To comply with the new Swedish rules, passengers had to show identification Monday to board trains departing from Copenhagen Airport in Denmark to Sweden across a bridge-and-tunnel link.

It is the latest move by a European Union country to suspend an agreement to keep internal borders open.

Danish officials have criticized the move and suggested Sweden should pay for the cost of the ID checks.

The Swedish government decided to tighten border controls after 160,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden last year – the highest number in Europe except for Germany. Most of them were from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.