STOCKHOLM, August 19, 2008 (AFP) - Swedish immigration authorities said Tuesday they suspect Iraqi refugees have taken advantage of the country's generous financial support for rejected asylum seekers.

'We believe the system is being exploited and we are very concerned,' Filippa Nordfeldt, an asylum specialist at the Swedish Migration Board, told AFP.

Sweden has since early 2007 tightened its asylum policy, ruling it can legally send rejected asylum seekers back to conflict-ridden areas like Iraq, Somalia and parts of Afghanistan.

To ease the repatriation process, Stockholm has since August 1, 2007, offered financial support to people who return willingly to any of these three countries.

Each adult can receive 20,000 kronor (2,135 euros, 3,132 dollars), each child 10,000 kronor, while a family is entitled to a maximum of 50,000 kronor.

In a recent letter to the Justice Ministry, the Migration Board said it was concerned that a growing number of Iraqis especially had requested the sum after they themselves retracted their asylum request.

This had led the immigration agency to suspect many Iraqis are coming to the Scandinavian country merely for the return money.

'It is relatively clear that the foreigners are not requesting asylum to stay in Sweden but simply to receive support,' said the letter, which was quoted in the Dagens Nyheter daily.

The paper reported that so far this year, 159 Iraqis have requested repatriation support after their asylum application had been rejected, while 207 willingly withdrew their asylum request before asking for the money.

Nordfeldt could not confirm the figure, but did say that 'more of those who have asked for the return funding retracted their asylum application themselves than had it rejected.'

In one case, an Iraqi man had applied for the return support after just eight days in Sweden. His application was denied.

However, the Migration Board said people who had spent just two to three months in Sweden had received the funding.

'The funding is meant to help people to resettle after they have been away from their country for a long time. It wasn't meant for people who have been away for just eight days,' Nordfeldt said.