Court annuls toddler deportation order

The Swedish Migration Court of Appeals on Monday decided to revoke the decision to deport 2-year-old Haddile, abandoned in Sweden shortly after birth by her Algerian mother.  "According to the Migration Court of Appeals it is not in the child's best interest under the current circumstances to deport Haddile to France," the court said in a statement shortly after the decision was made public.  The court explained that the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) had not taken conditions in Algeria into account when determining what would be in the Haddile's best interests. The court also requested that social services carry out an investigation into who exactly the girl's biological parents are and explore whether a family reunification might be possible.

 The court had been mulling an earlier decision by the Migration Board that the girl be sent back to France.  Had the court decided to follow the decision made by the agency, the Swedish social services would have had to look into what should be done next.  “We will wait and see. We are talking about the social services having to conduct an extensive investigation and a plan for a potential reunion," said Migration Board spokesman Fredrik Bengtsson to news agency TT prior to the verdict.

The case of 2-year-old Haddile, who was abandoned by her mother shortly after her birth and then allegedly abused by her stepfather before being taken in by foster parents, has outraged and captivated Swedes. The girl's mother, who is Algerian but has French citizenship, disappeared 20 days after giving birth at a hospital in Lund in the south of Sweden.  Haddile's step father took care of her when the mother disappeared but he was accused of abuse after the baby girl was admitted to hospital with serious brain damage at the age of four months. Haddile then ended up in foster care and her foster parents say they are willing to adopt her.

A move by the Migration Board to deport the child to France in an effort to reunite her with her mother resulted in a petition signed by tens of thousands of Swedes, prompting the agency to put a temporary delay on their deportation decision as the search for her parents continued.  At the end of September, reports came in of the mother having been identified. She is now living in Algeria and working as a teacher. She wants her daughter back. “My first and only wish is to have my daughter back,” the woman said to daily Aftonbladet in September.

While the case is complicated from a legal perspective, there is a strong case to be made that Haddile's strong emotional ties stemming from her relationship with her foster family means their relationship is covered by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, explained legal scholar Maarit Jänterä-Jareborg to TT.

The Local Sweden