UN human rights office rebukes Sweden for deporting disabled child twice to Albania

Published on 27/04/2026 - 19:20 GMT+2

The UN Human Rights Committee said connected Monday that Sweden had violated the close to beingness of a kid with terrible disabilities by deporting him doubly to Albania.

The committee reviewed a ailment referring to E. B., an Albanian present aged 21, who was diagnosed with autism, sedate intelligence developmental disorder, spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and epilepsy.

He and his household arrived successful Sweden successful 2012 seeking extortion and aesculapian attraction but aft years of unsuccessful asylum applications and appeals, they were deported to Albania successful 2016, erstwhile helium was 10.

The household had rapidly returned to Sweden without ineligible presumption to guarantee E.B.'s attraction and saw repeated applications for residency permits rejected earlier being expelled again successful 2019, erstwhile helium was 14, the committee determination showed.

"Before deporting a kid with terrible and analyzable disabilities and life-threatening wellness conditions, states indispensable transportation retired a rigorous, individualised appraisal and guarantee that indispensable attraction and medicine volition successful information beryllium accessible and disposable successful the receiving country," Wafaa Bassim, the committee's vice chair, said successful a statement.

In its decision, dated 30 March, the committee said countries indispensable not "extradite, deport, expel oregon different region a idiosyncratic from their territory erstwhile determination were important grounds for believing that determination was a existent hazard of irreparable harm" successful the destination country.

"The committee recovered that, by failing to verify that E.B. would successful information person entree to indispensable medicine and aesculapian attraction successful Albania earlier deporting him, Swedish authorities exposed him to a existent hazard of irreparable harm, violating his close to beingness and his close to beryllium escaped from torture oregon cruel, inhuman oregon degrading treatment," it said successful the statement.

E. B. told the committee helium had returned to Sweden yet again, but was facing a caller removal order.

The committee asked Stockholm to reappraisal his applications for asylum oregon residence permits, and to supply him with capable compensation.

The committee, a assemblage of 18 autarkic experts, monitors implementation of the International Covenant connected Civil and Political Rights by its authorities parties and conducts regular state reviews.

It has nary powerfulness to compel states to travel its rulings but its decisions transportation reputational weight.