STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Tuesday became the first European Union country to announce it will give asylum to all Syrian refugees who apply.
“All Syrian asylum seekers who apply for asylum in Sweden will get it,” Annie Hoernblad, the spokeswoman for Sweden’s migration agency, told AFP.
“The agency made this decision now because it believes the violence in Syria will not end in the near future.”
The decision, which will give refugees permanent resident status, is valid until further notice, added Hoernblad.
Until now, Sweden could only house refugees temporarily for three years, after each individual case was evaluated by the state.
The agency expects that the “vast majority of Syrian nationals who today have provisional status will apply for permanent status,” said Hoernblad.
Those granted permanent status will also be allowed to bring their families to Sweden.
The move came as the United Nations said the number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria had passed two million, which the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, called “the great tragedy of this century.”
Since 2012, Sweden has taken in some 14,700 asylum seekers from Syria.
Swedish Migration Minister Tobias Billstroem called on other countries to recognize their duty to help the Syrian people.
“No other conflict on earth today is as terrible as the long and bloody conflict in Syria. That should make many politicians, inside and outside the EU, think about our responsibilities,” he told the Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet.
In 2012, Sweden received a total of 44,000 asylum requests, a 48-percent increase and the highest number since 1992, at the time of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
The figure included around 8,000 requests from Syrians.
Incredible gesture.
Jag vill åka till Sverige på grund av terrorism, som förstörde vårt land och jag behöver till Sverige för säkerheten .ahb Det är ett land humanist Single Girl …… Jag har inte den fysiska förmågan att åka till Sverige …. Snälla hjälp mig
translation?
I found Sweden the most beautiful country with beautiful people and good laws. At that time (long ago) there were only 57 Policemen in the Capital (Stockholm).
And the Syrian people are also good, well educated, serving in high ranks in the Gulf countries. May Allah protect all Muslims from calamities. Ameen.
I am a Syrian who came to Cyprus in 2012 where i have lived before for 20 years and was educated in the best private schools and now they took away my old ID card and driving license and gave be subsidiary protection and will not give me a traveling document to allow me to visit my wife and 2 kids who are stuck in Turkey or allow them to reunite with me in Cyprus.
My Syrian Passport is expired and the Syrian Embassy refuse to issue me a new one so i am stuck here while my wife and 2 kids age 5 and 7 are stuck in Turkey and are now facing deportation.
Does anyone have any advice what i can do? Please help. I am highly educated from UK university and my wife and kids also speak English as we are from a highly educated backgrounds.
Thank you
Salah
Dear Salah, I am very sorry to hear of your big problems, which, unfortunately many face these days. You can try UNHCR and ask them for ‘family re-unification’. It will take time, but may be it can be successful. This is the legal way. Not quite so straight forward: Would it not be possible for your wife and children to travel to Northern Cyprus? From Turkey to Northern Cyprus should be sort of ‘internal flight’. Or may be by boat easier? (Sorry, I do not know, I am just wondering…). If you could be together in Cyprus that would be a first step… May Allah be your helper, guide and protector!!!