Sweden: Deportation Decisions Ignore Women’s Rights Risks.

Photo by Soner Arkan on pexels.com 

Sweden has long portrayed itself as a global champion of gender equality. Yet its current migration policy tells a different story. As authorities increasingly deport girls and young women raised in Sweden to countries where discrimination, violence, and gender-based persecution are well documented, critics argue that immigration enforcement is being pursued at the expense of their fundamental rights.

The controversy concerns young adults who arrived in Sweden as children or teenagers under residence permits linked to their parents. Due to lengthy administrative delays and changes in migration rules, many reached adulthood before obtaining permanent residence, losing their legal right to remain. As a result, they now face deportation despite having spent much of their formative years in Sweden, while their parents and younger siblings have often secured permanent residence or local citizenship.

For young women, these removals carry consequences that go beyond migration status. Deportation to countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Egypt means returning to legal and social environments characterised by entrenched gender discrimination and limited autonomy. Restrictions on employment, freedom of movement, family life, and personal independence, combined with widespread gender-based violence and inadequate legal protections, create conditions of heightened vulnerability. 

Several recent cases illustrate these risks. Sisters Darya and Donya Javid Gonbadi were deported to Iran after seven years in Sweden, while their father and younger siblings remained. Nardine Rael Awad was deported alone to Egypt, where she reported fearing for her safety as a Christian woman living independently. Likewise, sisters Diya and Kani Hassan continue to face deportation to Iraq despite completing their education and entering the labour market in Sweden. With no family or support network in Iraq, they risk returning to a society where women living alone face significant legal and social obstacles.

These experiences demonstrate that deportation decisions cannot be viewed as gender-neutral administrative measures. International organisations have consistently documented the systematic discrimination embedded in the legal and social systems of the countries concerned. In Iran, United Nations investigations have concluded that state authorities commit gender persecution through laws and practices restricting fundamental rights and freedoms. In Egypt and Iraq, discriminatory personal status laws, widespread gender-based violence, and weak legal protections continue to undermine equality, autonomy, and security. 

Beyond exposing women to these risks, the deportations also separate families. Young adults who have established their lives in Sweden are removed while parents and siblings remain, disrupting family unity and forcing them to rebuild their lives in countries with which many have only limited ties. Having completed their education, entered employment, and developed strong social connections in Sweden, deportation often represents not a return home but displacement from the society in which they have grown up.

These decisions raise important questions under international human rights law. The principle of non-refoulement prohibits States from returning individuals to countries where they face a real risk of persecution, torture, or inhuman and degrading treatment. International human rights bodies have increasingly recognised that severe gender-based violence and gender persecution fall within these protections. At the same time, separating young adults from their immediate families raises concerns regarding the right to family and private life protected under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Although the Swedish government has recently introduced temporary measures allowing some young adults to apply for residence permits linked to their parents until the age of 21, these reforms do not address the underlying issue. They postpone removal for some individuals but leave unresolved whether return decisions adequately assess the gender-specific risks women may face after deportation.

As scrutiny of these cases grows, Sweden faces increasing pressure to align its migration policy with its human rights commitments. Ensuring that deportation decisions fully assess gender-specific risks, while respecting family unity and the principle of non-refoulement, is essential to avoid exposing young women to the very discrimination, violence, and persecution that international human rights law is designed to prevent.

written by Clara Pescatori