The case concerns a then 16-year-old woman who was raped on a subway in Skellefteå in the fall of 2024. The perpetrator, an 18-year-old from Eritrea, was sentenced in September last year by the Court of Appeal to three years in prison but not to deportation. The crime was not considered serious enough for the man's refugee protection status to be revoked.
The court took into account the UN Refugee Convention, according to which the crime must be “particularly serious” for someone with refugee status to be deported.
Sweden's Minister for Migration has pushed to change the UN guidelines.
"Now we have actually managed to gather support among many member states and get UNHCR to change the application of the convention. I think that feels important," Forssell tells SVT.
