Migration Board continues to grant Iraqis asylum
Nine out of ten asylum seekers from Iraq are still being granted residence permits to stay in Sweden despite the Migration Board's decision that the situation in their home country should not be categorized as a war, Dagens Nyheter reports.
Prior to the policy change in early July, 95 to 97 percent of Iraqis were given permanent residency status. This figure has now dropped slightly to between 90 and 91 percent.
But the board has received internal criticism for its failure to carry out extensive identity checks on asylum seekers.
"All that matters is reaching a decision at any cost," one Migration Board official told Dagens Nyheter.
Director general Dan Eliasson has said that he wants to cut the time it takes to process a case from six to three months. But he does not share his employee's concern.
"I'm not in the least bit worried about it. The courts have streamlined how they work without anyone claiming that the legal system has been in any way undermined," he told Dagens Nyheter.
A total of 20,000 Iraqis are expected to seek asylum in Sweden this year, which is double the figure for 2006.
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Prior to the policy change in early July, 95 to 97 percent of Iraqis were given permanent residency status. This figure has now dropped slightly to between 90 and 91 percent.
But the board has received internal criticism for its failure to carry out extensive identity checks on asylum seekers.
"All that matters is reaching a decision at any cost," one Migration Board official told Dagens Nyheter.
Director general Dan Eliasson has said that he wants to cut the time it takes to process a case from six to three months. But he does not share his employee's concern.
"I'm not in the least bit worried about it. The courts have streamlined how they work without anyone claiming that the legal system has been in any way undermined," he told Dagens Nyheter.
A total of 20,000 Iraqis are expected to seek asylum in Sweden this year, which is double the figure for 2006.
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