- Children who have been born in Sweden, with parents without a residence permit, are at risk of deportation.
- Recently, the Migration Court of Appeal issued a guiding ruling that applies to these children, among others.
- Daniel Grynfarb, head of the Migration Law Unit at the Swedish Migration Agency, tells Ekot that, even though there is now a guiding judgment, each case must be tried individually.
One of them children which the Swedish Migration Agency has now decided to deport is thirteen-year-old Hadicha who has lived in Sweden all his life.
– I was born here, so I’m not an immigrant or anything, Hadicha says to Ekot.
Her parents came here from Uzbekistan, and have remained, despite being denied asylum applications.
The ruling from the Migration Court of Appeal concerned a 14-year-old girl. She was, just like Hadicha, born in Sweden and has lived here all her life.
The court tried the child best based on, among other things, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and came to the conclusion that the best interests of the child in that particular case were to be allowed to stay in Sweden. The court also emphasized that the fact that the girl’s parents had been illegal in Sweden would not affect her.
When thirteen-year-old Hadicha, after the guiding verdict, has now once again had her asylum application rejected, the Swedish Migration Board refers to the fact that Hadicha has been in Sweden illegally.
– You have been here illegally, it says in children’s decision. As if someone who is seven, eight, nine, ten years old can be somewhere illegal on purpose. They follow what the adults do. So they have used an adult approach to Hadicha, says Marie Källbom, who is Hadicha’s lawyer.
Ekot has read several current decisions at the Swedish Migration Agency, which came after the advisory judgment, where the circumstances are similar to the case decided in the Migration Court of Appeal.
These are children who have lived in Sweden for a long time, with parents who have not had a residence permit. In those cases, the Swedish Migration Agency has decided to refuse a residence permit, just as in Hadicha’s case.
Daniel Grynfarb, head of the Migration Law Unit at the Swedish Migration Agency, tells Ekot that, even if there is now a guiding judgment, each case must be tried individually, and even if it would be the child’s best to stay in Sweden, it does not automatically grant a residence permit. The Migration Court of Appeal also writes that the Convention on the Rights of the Child does not in itself allow a child to have the right to stay in Sweden – but on the other hand that an examination must be made of what an expulsion means for the child.
– First we look at, if it would be the child’s best to stay here, yes or no, and in this case we think it would be the child’s best to stay here, and then we should weigh it against the interest of having a regulated immigration . And in this case, we think that interest outweighs, says Daniel Grynfarb about Hadicha’s case.
According to lawyer Marie Källbom children’s rights in migration matters have not been strengthened, despite the Migration Court of Appeal’s guiding ruling and despite the fact that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is now Swedish law.
– My life is here, Hadicha says to Ekot. Do I have to move from here now?
Source: ICELAND NEWS