The world's poor lose out as aid is diverted to the refugee crisis | Larry Elliott

Donor countries are increasingly dipping into their aid budgets to deal with the migration crisis

Sweden is one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to international aid. Along with other Scandinavian countries, it has given bounteously to less fortunate nations for many years. With a population of under 10 million, it also takes more than its fair share of asylum seekers - an estimated 190,000 last year, with a further 100,000 to 170,000 expected to arrive in 2016.

This is proving to be an expensive business. The Swedish migration agency says the cost of assimilating such a large number of asylum seekers will be a6.4bn (4.4bn) this year - and a debate is raging about whether the aid budget should be raided to help meet the bill. In 2015, 25% of the aid budget was spent on refugees. One proposal is to raise that figure to 60%.

Related: The aid pie is growing, but the poorest countries get a smaller slice | Adrian Lovett