Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and X, has stirred controversy with his latest claim that nearly 80 percent of ‘refugees’ return on vacation to the very countries they once fled.
Musk, who now heads the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made this statement on X on the 31st of January, 2025, responding to a news article published by Breitbart on the 11th of September, 2022.
The article, titled “Sweden: 79 Percent of ‘Refugees’ Have Vacationed in Country They ‘Fled’”, cited a survey by polling firm Novus, which reported that about 85 percent of foreign-born residents in Sweden have traveled back to their home countries.
The survey further claimed that among those identified as refugees, 79 percent had returned for vacations, despite seeking asylum on the grounds of forced displacement.
Reacting to the publication, Musk wrote on X: “Almost 80 percent of ‘refugees’ go on vacation to the country they claim to have fled from.”
While Musk did not specify a particular country, his comment comes amid increasing reports of organized violence across the globe, including Sweden.
Notably, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson recently acknowledged a surge in violent incidents in the country.
According to Nordic Times, the start of 2025 has witnessed an alarming wave of bombings—an average of one per day—resulting in 27 explosions by the 27th of January, including several in residential areas.