FALCON POWERS – The Swedish government’s attempts to forcibly deport Iraqi refugees who have had their asylum applications rejected and do not have residence permits has become complex and extremely difficult again. The forced deportation process did not go as planned, as the Iraqi authorities no longer accept forced deportees at this time and do not issue them travel documents for deportation without their consent. However, deportations continue for those who have Iraqi passports held by the Swedish Migration Agency.
The Swedish authorities are currently trying to pressure Iraqi refugees by detaining them in deportation facilities to force them to agree to have travel documents issued by the embassy. But they refuse, including “Hassan”, an Iraqi refugee whose asylum was rejected in Sweden and is being detained by the Swedish Migration Agency for forced deportation to Iraq. Hassan refuses to return to Iraq voluntarily and refuses to agree to request travel documents from the Iraqi embassy in Sweden. He has spent about seven months in Migration Agency detention and just wants to be released because his family’s asylum case was rejected but they are not detained with him.
Hassan’s entire family has a deportation order, but only Hassan has been placed in detention to pressure him and deport him. Hassan’s daughter “Asal” hopes he will be released from detention, as she told the radio.
According to internal documents from the Swedish Border Police, the Iraqi government has priority in the authorities’ work on deportations. Last fall, three planes loaded with forced deportees from Sweden to Iraq left after the Iraqi embassy cooperated in issuing Iraqi travel documents for the Iraqi refugees. It was planned that 6 chartered planes loaded with deportees would leave for Iraq this year, but this failed.
