Assaulted Chinese woman risks deportation
Published: 27 Apr 10 14:59 CET | Print version
Updated: 28 Apr 10 13:36 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/26320/20100427/
The Swedish Migration Board has decided to deport a Chinese woman who lost her residency permit when her Swedish husband filed for divorce in revenge for her reporting his repeated assaults.
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The 37-year-old Chinese woman married her Swedish husband and moved with the her now ten-year-old son to the countryside near Eksjö in Småland in southern Sweden.
Soon after the brutal assaults against the woman began. According to the charges sheet her ex-husband humiliated her by cutting off her hair, shut her in a sauna, stamped on her head and administered regular beatings.
The man was previously served with a restraining order, which he repeatedly violated. At one point he travelled to China and instructed the abused woman's parents to call her and talk her around.
The woman meanwhile lived in constant fear of being thrown out of Sweden if she did not remain married to the man.
But eventually her Swedish husband filed for divorce in revenge for her reporting the repeated attacks to the police and her nightmare scenario became a reality after her work and residency permits were revoked.
The Migration Board has now decided to enforce regulations that stipulate that she, and her son, be deported back to China.
"We have appealed the deportation ruling to the Migration Court," said the woman's lawyer, Uno Carlsson. The district court decision will be forward to the Migration Court to support the woman's appeal.
"But her ex-husband has also written to them and requested that she be deported from the country," Carlsson said.
The completed divorce meant that the woman and her children no longer had any connection to Sweden and according to general praxis had no legal right to remain in the country.
The case is far from unique in Sweden with a 2008 study conducted by the National
Organisation for Women’s and Girls’ shelters in Sweden (Riksorganisationen för kvinnojourer och tjejjourer i Sverige - ROKS) finding 515 cases of abused foreign wives recorded in a single year, the Dagens Nyheter daily reports.
"There are women who choose to return to their husbands and endure the two years needed to avoid deportation," said Malin Olsson of ROKS to the newspaper.
According to Swedish immigration law in order to avoid deportation the established connection to Sweden must exceed two years.
TT/Peter Vinthagen Simpson
news@thelocal.se
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I don't know if they have children, but the Idiots at the Swedish Migration board should have the logic to understand that the children are half Swedish and deserves the right to stay in Sweden.
She should be allowed to stay and the ex husband should be made to pay for her.
Many weird things really, so he got imprisoned, but no financial compensation for the woman? No psychiatric help???
I am sure (and I know some) who are put in such situations and get to accept it over the fear of being deported/thrown in the street/returned to their very harsh social dilemmas because of the lack of social support to these people!
Very weird
In China, man speaks the way as you did is taken as rude and mentally unhealthy. I think this Chinese woman has found herself live in a very unfortunate country, a hell nightmare for her.
Ten years ago my Japanese friend married a US citizen who became abusive within a month of their marriage. She approached the women's protection services to help her and as a result he got locked up. In resentment this guy divorced her. As is the case here of this Chinese woman, my friend was deported as soon as the divorce came through (three months). In spite of the women's protection services petitioning for my friend she was escorted out of the country. SO, USA has the same policy.
Having said that and seen a similar case so closely I feel sorry for the woman and I strongly believe that in international marriages that turn sour the estranged spouse must not be deported if the divorce is a result of obvious fault on the part of the local citizen. Peace.
Why is sweden so relaxed about violence against women.
The woman deserves a decent break ... ideally at the husbands expense.
If it is the case that she's relatively young and hasn't been here long I can see why the Migration Board may want to return her to China.
However there is no excuse for not compensating her at the husband's expense for his abusive behaviour. He fetched her over, he should pay for her return and reestablishment in China. He's an old brute. Unfortunately there are many here. Larsson had plenty of material for his (Swedish) Män som hatar kvinnor.
@DAVID T - agree with you on that one!!
- the man was 60
- the woman was 37 and brought her 10 year old son from China
- they met on the internet
- she lived in Sweden for only 3 months for seeking refuge at a neighbouring farm because of the violence
According to the Swedish press it is the ex-husband who is actively trying to get her deported - has divorced her and written to Migrationsverket asking that she should be dpeorted as she was not in Sweden for 2 years as required:
- he is also refusing to pay her compensation to her and her son of 57,000 SEK ordered by the court - obviously if her can get her out of the country then the chances are she will never get her money
- he may have also been attempting to get her deported before the case came to trial - as his chances of being convicted would have been small if she was back in China
Her lawyers are appealing the deportation order - until Tuesday's judgement in the criminal case they did not have grounds to appeal - so the appeal to the Immigration Case is proceeding.......
"It's the law"
The law is our servant, not our master. it is meant to protect us from injustice.
By applying the law in this way, the Swedish Migration Board have rewarded and encouraged wife beaters to beat away, and discouraged victims from seeking help. Helping brutal Swedish thugs abuse their foreign wives is not the proper function of a government department, whatever the law may say.
I assume this story will be reported in China. Nice job the dimwits at Swedish Migration Board, you have taken a giant step forward in damaging the reputation of Sweden with a global superpower.
I can understand why some people here cant feel how hard it is for us (abused women), because you are not in the situation and besides, maybe you are a citizen here or enjoying the "welfare" that this country offers. It's even so disappointing when I was told by one of the government offices, when I was asking for immediate assistance, that I should solve my own problems. So I was thinking, maybe they would have appreciated it if I died when this man assaulted me, then they will just send my dead body back to country and be done...
When an American marries a foreigner they must file an affidavit of support, i864 form which clearly states that the sponsor must support the immigrant for 40 quarters/10 years of work at 125% of the poverty line. Additionally, an abused immigrant can apply for asylum under the Violence Against Women Act using form i360.
That is US law regarding this type of situation. I don't know your friend's situation, but in the US an accusation of abuse does not automatically mean approval of asylum. You believe your friend regarding her abuse because you know her and trust her but, unless there was documentation like hospital records or police reports, deportation is likely. The authorities don't know her like you do. Her word is not good enough, unfortunately.
Why is sweden so relaxed about violence against women." (engagebrain)
Because, contrary to the myth, Sweden has always been, and remains, a dangerous place for women
If a woman seeking her foreign marrage is damn wrong, so is the ugly old man here to "import" his bride.
a well developed country and its people should learn to well treat other countrymen and protect the basic human rights and due respect. The woman has done nothing wrong here, it's the old man is to blame and be punished. The country and people here should feel shame for what happened.
The law is our servant, not our master. it is meant to protect us from injustice!
That is the main thing. If it were that this Chinese woman abused her husband and got deported then it would sound more reasonable. This is just counterintuitive and senseless. The law is not supposed to work counter-intuitively . To be "deported" is terrible! Because once you are deported you will have difficulties getting a visa not only to Sweden but the whole of EU. Did she commit a crime so that they wanted to deport her? According to the UN..abused women and children should be protected. The Swedish court found the man guilty...so? If I were migrationsverket I would make sure that she will get her compensation and that will cover her expenses here and since it was the "Swedish citizen" that committed (regardless whether he is white, black or what) the victim should be given help ..so I would say give her a residence permit for a year more so she gets from the social program or whatever. After that she will have to apply for a work permit or a residence permit on the ground of other things...and if she wanna leave Sweden then it is up her.
Remeber this: migrationsverket grant even permanent residence permits to hundreds of thousands of people who are just relatives of someone living here .. come on!
Because her deportation will:
(1) reward this particular man for abusing his foreign wife.
(2) encourage other Swedish men to abuse their foreign wives and blackmail them into silence after,
and
(3) discourage other foreign wives from reporting and divorcing their abusive Swedish husbands.
(1) How will it "reward the husband?" He's in jail, is he not?
(2) Er... are you right in the head? I think you need to look into the reason men abuse their wives. "Because the opportunity arises" is not one of them.
(3) Yes, golddiggers will often stay with abusive husbands. Fact of the matter is that someone who has residency here based on a relationship permit can not stay if the relationship ends. And this shouldn't be a problem for the person either, since they are here for a relationship. Being a residency shopper is against the law as well you know, an an argument of "I just married him to get to Sweden" will get her deported as well.
@trustedONE: Someone who works in Sweden can simply convert their relationship VISA to a work VISA.
(1) "But her ex-husband has also written to them and requested that she be deported from the country," His reward,(courtesy of the Swedish Migration Board), he's avenged the woman who put him in jail, and he's cleared the way, to find another wife to beat. He must be feeling pretty good this morning.
(2) The fear of a punishment is a universally accepted reason for not doing as we want. That's why we have an expensive penal system. By providing abusive husbands with a tool to blackmail their wives into silence, that fear is removed.
(3) I'm afraid your grammar is so convoluted, I don't understand what you wrote.
and I think,
She can leave Sweden but not this way.
I hope that Migrationsverkets heart is not made of iron.
The country's policy is back in Europe...
Final impression that this country is very cold, it must have too much crime..
Agree!
@ Kevin Harris
I asked my Swedish husband if he now feels encouraged to beat me- and NO, he does not. Also, doesn't really matter which country- beaten women will ALWAYS be afraid to speak.
In (2) I clearly wrote "abusive husbands". I hope very much that your husband isn't one of those. It is quite right he doesn't feel reassured by this decision, it doesn't relate to him at all. Please be cautious if you intend to ask an "abusive husband" the same question.
What didnt you get with the articly, the repeated abuse wasnt tolerated, he got prisontime for it.
No, you didn't write that...
'...(2) encourage other Swedish men to abuse their foreign wives and blackmail them into silence after,...'
(2) "By providing abusive husbands with a tool to blackmail their wives into silence"
Maybe they should investigate the foreign party entering into the marriage more carefully. As the name states- MIGRATION = Migrant. Why would they be investigating their own citizens??
I can bet money on the fact that after 'meeting' on the internet, neither travelled to meet in person. And that can be dangerous.