GENEVA - The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Sweden violated the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of an Albanian child with severe disabilities by deporting him to Albania twice without ensuring that he would have effective access to essential medical treatment.
The Committee published its decision today after reviewing the complaint of E.B., an Albanian child with severe disabilities who has been diagnosed with complex health conditions, including autism, grave mental developmental disorder, spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and epilepsy. He and his family arrived in Sweden in 2012 seeking protection and medical care, but after years of unsuccessful asylum applications and appeals, they were deported to Albania in 2016, when he was 10, and again in 2019, when he was 14.
"Before deporting a child with severe and complex disabilities, and life-threatening health conditions, States must carry out a rigorous, individualised assessment and ensure that essential treatment and medication will in fact be accessible and available in the receiving country," said Wafaa Bassim, Vice Chair of the Committee.
The Committee recalled that States must not deport, extradite or otherwise remove a person when there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm in the receiving country. It stressed that such risk must be personal and must be assessed through an individualised assessment of the person's circumstances. It also recalled that people with disabilities are entitled to specific measures of protection and that the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all decisions affecting children.
The Committee noted that the Swedish migration authorities failed to adequately verify the medical certificates submitted by E.B. during the domestic proceedings. Those certificates showed that he depended on a vital shunt and regular specialist follow-up care, without which his life would be at risk, and that essential medical care was not available in Albania. It noted his claims that, following the family's deportation in 2016, a hospital in Tirana refused to treat him when he fell ill because his needs were deemed too complex, and that after the second deportation in 2019, he had to rely on epilepsy medication sent from Sweden through a non-governmental organisation.
"In a case as serious as E.B.'s, States must do more than conduct standard reviews," said Bassim. "They must carefully assess whether a person will in fact have real and effective access to essential medical care and medication before carrying out a deportation."
The Committee found that, by failing to verify that E.B. would in fact have access to essential medication and medical care in Albania before deporting him, Swedish authorities exposed him to a real risk of irreparable harm, violating his right to life and his right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
As E.B. is currently facing a new removal order, the Committee asked Sweden to review his applications for asylum or residence permits, taking into account its obligations under the Covenant and to provide E.B. with adequate compensation.
