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Sweden said on Monday it is reforming criticised immigration rules leading to teenagers being deported even though their families are allowed to stay, including raising the age at which such deportations could occur.
The country’s migration agency halted the “teenage deportations” in March when the government announced it intended to change the rules.
They refer to cases of minors who came to Sweden with their parents when the latter sought asylum in the Scandinavian country but who are being asked to leave when they turn 18.
The heavily criticised rules made headlines in Sweden in the months leading up to the halt.
Both the right-wing government and its far-right partner, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, conceded the system was flawed.
In these instances, the parents have a right to stay in Sweden but the adolescents are deemed not to fulfil the requirements and are therefore ordered to leave when they reach the age when they are considered to be adults.
On Monday, the government and the Sweden Democrats announced several relaxations of the rules.
Firstly, the age at which the children of migrants will be considered adults under the law will be raised from 18 to 21.
In addition, people who are subject to a deportation order but have not yet left the country will be able to submit a new application for a residence permit.
Those who have already left Sweden will also be able to apply, online or at an embassy, provided they have held a residence permit on family reunification grounds at some point in the past three years.
“We are taking an important step today. I am very pleased to be able to present this solution,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell said at a press conference.
Previously, when adult asylum seekers were granted residence permits, their children were also given permanent right to remain.
But since 2021, the children have only been granted temporary residence permits and have had to re-apply.
Teenagers who “have done everything right should, of course, have the opportunity to work, study and become part of our beautiful country and our society,” Forssell said.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s coalition government, propped up by the far right, came to power in 2022 vowing to crack down on immigration.
On Monday, Forssell stressed they were still in favour of a “very strict asylum policy.”
Following a large influx of asylum seekers in Sweden in 2015, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened asylum rules.
Additional sources • AFP
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