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Sweden: Blanket deportations

01 September 1994

For a long time Sweden was known as one of the most liberal countries in Europe in its treatment of refugees. Over the past year however this has changed dramatically with many refugees being expelled. The change in policy started under the Conservative government in a more and more nationalistic political climate hostile to "foreigners". The Social Democrats, who won the September general election, have continued the same policy. Leif Blomberg, the new Minister for Immigrants, has stated that in future Sweden must be even more restrictive in its asylum policy.

The government has also changed the rules applying to a foreign citizen applying for asylum, if an applicant commits a crime they are to be expelled. But this rule also apply to the whole of the applicant's family under another rule which says a family must not be divided.

This leads to absurd results. There are now four different cases where the man of the family has committed a crime directed towards his own family - child abuse, incest and maltreatment of the wife or the children. The whole family, including the victims of the crime, have been expelled. There are also many cases where a Swedish man, married to a foreign woman, has maltreated and sexually abused her to the extent that she has reported him to the police and then wanted to get divorced. The result is that the woman is expelled since she no longer has the right to remain in Sweden allowed because of her marriage.