AYS Daily Digest 19/02/2020 — Iranian Asylum Seekers on Hunger Strike in Sweden
By: Ellen Elias-Bursac
Tags: Digest, Eu, Sweden, Migrants, Refugees

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Feb 20 · 6 min read

Iranian asylum seekers on hunger strike in Gothenburg. Photography credit: Hor var rost

FEATURE — Iranian Asylum Seekers on Strike to Protest Unequal Treatment in Asylum Process

A group of Iranian asylum seekers on hunger strike in Gothenburg are attempting to highlight the inequalities in Sweden. Many have been applying for asylum for years and are criticizing the delays of the system in general, as well as discrimination against Iranians.

Asylum seekers have to meet a very high standard to prove that they are in real danger if they go back to Iran. Having family who were executed by the state is not enough of a reason, nor is converting to a different religion such as Christianity. In fact, the Swedish government has accused many Christian converts of lying about their religion and in general is insensitive to the dangers Christian converts may face. This treatment is not unique to Iranian asylum seekers as many Afghan Christians were also deported to a country where conversion is illegal. However, the group pointed out that there seems to be a systematic denial of asylum applications from Iran. Despite their different reasons for applying for asylum and despite whatever proof they provide, Iranian asylum seekers often get the same answer — no.

Applicants are not provided with adequate legal representation or translation. Sometimes, the legal counsel and translators given to them by the government are openly hostile to them, such as the case of one Iranian Christian whose translator (a Syrian Muslim, so probably not even a native Farsi speaker) interrogated her about her decision to convert. Appealing a rejected asylum decision can drag through courts for years and very rarely is successful. When asylum applicants are rejected, people lose the right to a monthly stipend, employment permits or any kind of social safety net they had and have to lead a precarious existence if they choose to stay in Sweden. Because of this, many families are protesting not just discrimination against Iranian nationals but the drawn-out nature of the asylum process, which makes it impossible for all people on the move to rebuild their lives.

There is some good news coming out of Sweden: 15 people were released from the Migration Agency’s detention centers over the weekend. This happened due to a new interpretation of the EU’s reception conditions directive, which affects all member states of the Common European Asylum System. The directive in question is one that limits the possibility of depriving someone of their liberty, something that the Swedish government has been accused of doing to an excessive degree. The people released were mostly those whose asylum applications were rejected but did not legally have to leave the country yet. Previously, the Swedish government was able to justify detaining them and countless others by saying it was a preventative measure to avoid people “disappearing” before they could be deported. Effectively they were imprisoning people for having an opportunity to commit a “crime,” but not actually committing one.

Obviously this new interpretation is a positive one and will hopefully make life easier for people on the move in Sweden, however, the Swedish asylum system as a whole is very troubling. The EU directive in question was passed in 2013, which means for at least seven years Sweden has been detaining people “preventatively” in a way that goes against all interpretations of human rights.

While the Swedish government freeing 15 people that were unjustly imprisoned is a good thing, we cannot forget the many others who are being deprived of their freedom. Sweden and other EU governments do not deprive people on the move of their liberty just by detaining them, they do so by demoralizing them with invasive asylum procedures, forcing them to live in uncertainty during application processes that last years, and otherwise taking away their ability to lead a normal life.

To keep up with the hunger strike, follow the group on their Facebook page here.