ECtHR Chamber Judgments in Eight Swedish Asylum Cases [Arts. 2 and 3 ECHR]

The applicants are Iraqi nationals whose asylum claims were rejected by Sweden and who face deportation. Before the European Court of Human Rights, two of the applicants alleged that they would be at risk of being the victims of an honour-related crime due to their relationships with women that were disapproved of by their families. In the other six cases, the applicants alleged they would be at risk of persecution due to being Christians, which constitute a religious minority in the country. In all cases the Court ruled that the applicants’ deportation to Iraq would not be a violation of Articles 2 or 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. If removed to Iraq, the Court said, the applicants would not be at risk due to the general situation in the country, which shows signs of slow improvement. Furthermore, the Court held that all applicants could reasonably relocate to other regions in Iraq where they would not face persecution.

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