In huge blow to Iraqi refugees, Sweden tightens asylum rules

STOCKHOLM / IraqiNews.com: Sweden, which has welcomed far more Iraqi refugees than the U.S. or the rest of Europe, stepped up restrictions against Iraqi asylum seekers, and began deporting hundreds who came through Greece in spite of protests voiced by Human Rights organizations in the Scandinavian country. While the new rules would threaten the lives of Iraqi’s seeking refuge who fear returning home, Swedish Migration Minister Tobias Billstrom announced “there is no hope for any Iraqi denied refugee status in Sweden.” Sweden, a country of just nine million people that is not involved in the Iraqi conflict, took in more Iraqi refugees than any other European country. “I do not think the situation in Iraq is safe enough to return home,” Nibras Saleem, a 30-year-old journalist said. “Journalists in Iraq cannot guarantee surviving there.” “Armed groups threaten me with death, otherwise I would not think of traveling abroad,” Saleem noted. The most upsetting development came when the Swedish Supreme Immigration Court ruled on the legality of returning Iraqi refugees who came from Athens to Greece. The court based its ruling on the Dublin Convention for refugees. Under the Dublin convention, individuals must make their application for asylum in the first EU country that they enter, since it came into force in 1997. The convention proved unworkable for Iraqis who came through Greece via Turkey, Iraq’s northern neighbor, one of the few countries that does not require previous entry visa from Iraqis. The Swedish supreme immigration court is the highest authority for asylum seekers to appeal their denied claims and also has the right to repeal any immigration court rulings. The Supreme Court has three branches in three major cities: Stockholm, Malmo, and Gothenburg. Mohamed Gharib, 38 years old, who has been in Sweden for ten years and is a naturalized citizen, said his brother who came from Greece “was forced to return without getting a residency which has become difficult after signing a memorandum of understanding between the Iraqi government and the Swedish immigration department.” “My brother has lost hope and is in terrible psychological condition after his claim was rejected and he lost the money paid to smugglers who took him across the Swedish borders,” he pointed out. Swedish Immigration Billstrom, at 33 the youngest senior minister in the center-right government, emphasized “nothing is available to deal with the rising tide of refugees except for them to return to Iraq.” He put the number of rejected asylum claimers in 2008 at 23, 000, while tallies showed they were thousands compared with similar cases in 2007. Billstrom highlighted the MOU signed between Iraq and Sweden, which states the return of Iraqis to their country if their claims are rejected. He described Iraqi government cooperation as very good and applauded its readiness to return intellectuals and academics who left their country under hard circumstances to rebuild “the war-weary country.” Iraqis whose asylum claims were denied felt the Swedish and Iraqi government have left them with an unknown destiny, confirming security in Iraq as being “not enough” to incite their return, particularly after losing their finances and properties to escape with their lives. “Compulsory return would leave trauma and created environment of fear and oppression for them,” Badea Karim, 49, a human rights activists, explained. He added the money given by the Swedish government to those who willingly return is about $3700-8700, which would not provide housing and living for a family, while those were forced to leave would get only return flight tickets. According to official figures, 8,951 Iraqis came to Sweden last year, far more than any other country and 45 percent of the total who came to Europe. Sweden’s appeal to Iraqis lies in its relative openness to refugees and in its established community of mo