A charity backed by the Swedish government has launched a campaign denouncing the assimilation of migrants and telling natives to “integrate” with foreign “cultures and languages”.

“It’s time to realise the new Swedes will claim their space” an ad insists, describing the Nordic nation as a “safe space” for migrants and concluding: “There is no way back. Sweden will never be like it was.”

The campaign is called “The New Country” (hashtag #detnyalandet) with a website appearing alongside the film, arguing that residents should adopt foreign “cultures” and “languages”, rather than expect new arrivals to become Swedish.

The charity behind it is Individuell Människohjälp (IM), which translates as Individual Relief. However, they go by the English name ‘Swedish Development Partner’ and say they are dedicated to “fighting and exposing poverty and exclusion”.

IM is an official member of the government-backed Swedish Fundraising Council (SFC) and Swedish news source Fria Tider claims that it is a recipient of taxpayer’s money.

“It’s not just new Swedes who need to integrate. Everyone needs to be integrated, established Swedes too”, they say in their new film, adding: “Integration does not mean that one party should adapt to the other, or that everyone should think, do and feel the same. Integration is about meetings, and real meetings are built on reciprocity.”

After a backlash online, IM “clarified” on Twitter that they were not asking Swedes to give up their “old” culture, but promoting “mutual integration”, which “means that the two go together into something larger”.

“It’s time to realise that new Swedes will take up room with cultures, languages and customs, and it’s time we see this as a positive force. The new country is about shaping a new future,” the film adds.

“We all have the new country within us; in our views, thoughts and actions. The time has come to build a country that is proud, inclusive and sustainable – something new. The new country,” it concludes.

Sweden accepted more ‘refugees’ per capita that any other European nation last year and the liberal government is now facing a backlash.

At the beginning of this month, it was reported that the proportion of Swedes who want their country to accept fewer ‘refugees’ has almost doubled in a year, meaning a strong majority – 60 per cent – now support slashing immigration.

In contrast, only 13 per cent said they thought more ‘refugees’ should be accepted, more than halving from 31 per cent in 2015.