The boy, who was diagnosed with autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and epilepsy, came to Sweden with his family in 2012 to seek protection and receive medical care. After their asylum applications were rejected, they were deported to Albania in 2016 when he was ten, and again in 2019 after the family returned to Sweden.
The Committee notes that Sweden, by failing to check whether the boy would have access to necessary medicine and healthcare in Albania, “exposed him to a real risk of irreversible harm, which constituted a violation of his right to life and his right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Wafaa Bassim, the committee's vice-chair, said in a statement that countries must "ensure that necessary treatment and medication will actually be available in the receiving country" before deporting a child with severe and complex disabilities and life-threatening health conditions.
The Committee urges the Swedish authorities to re-examine his application for asylum or for a residence permit and to provide him with compensation.
The boy, who is now a 21-year-old man, tells the committee that he has once again made his way to Sweden and is now waiting for a deportation decision.
