CRPD/C/23/D/60/2019
Compulsory Psychiatric Care Act on 2 March 2018, as it was suspected that she suffered
from depression with a high risk of suicide.
2.5
On 16 October 2018, the Migration Agency denied the author’s second application
for impediment of enforcement of the deportation order against her. It noted that in order to
grant an adult a residence permit on medical grounds, the medical condition needed to be
severe and satisfactorily documented. In cases where it is stated that a suicide risk exists, an
assessment has to be made as to whether this is due to self-destructive acts or whether such
statements have been made because of severe mental illness shown in a psychiatric
evaluation. The Agency noted that severe self-destructive acts or statements made by a
person can lead to the granting of a residence permit. It noted that acts or statements of that
kind can, however, in some cases be seen more as expressions of disappointment or despair
after a received expulsion decision, rather than an indication of severe mental illness. The
Agency concluded that, in those kinds of cases, the acts or statements could not be given
the same weight when assessing an application for a residence permit. The Migration
Agency further noted that the author did not invoke mental illness when her case was
assessed in her initial asylum process, but only after the expulsion order against her had
become final. The Migration Agency also noted that the author herself linked her mental
illness to her fear of returning to Iraq. It made the assessment that the author had not been
able to prove that her illness was caused by a severe mental illness that was not temporary
in nature. The Agency did not question that the author had a mental illness, but it found that
the medical documentation submitted by her did not support the assumption that her illness
was serious enough to grant her a residence permit.
2.6
The author appealed the decision to the Migration Court. She referred to additional
medical certificates, dated 31 October and 11 November 2018, in which it was noted that
she was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure. She had her first contact with
psychiatric services in Sweden in 2017 and a psychiatric investigation for depression was
started in January 2018. It was found that the author was diagnosed with a deep depression
with serious suicide attempts, following which she was committed to hospital. She was
treated at the hospital for almost two months. While committed, she made another suicide
attempt. It was further noted in the certificates that the author had shown serious signs of
deep depression where she had visual, aural and tactical hallucinations and became
borderline psychotic. After having been released from the hospital, the author was treated
with 13 different drugs, 5 of which are psychotropic substances. It was further noted in the
medical certificate of 11 November 2018 that the author’s condition was seen as directly
life-threatening without said treatment. In a further medical certificate dated 4 December
2018, the author was noted to have been admitted for psychiatric care owing to depression
with psychotic features. She was described as having aural hallucinations from the age of
25; however, she had not received adequate medical care for her condition in Iraq. She was
assessed to be very ambivalent towards getting treatment and was therefore admitted under
the Compulsory Psychiatric Care Act. Her condition was described as being life-threatening,
and it was noted that the treatment given was necessary to keep her alive, with her risk of
relapse assessed to be grave without adequate care. In her appeal to the Migration Court,
the author argued that her condition was life-threatening and that she would not be able to
receive adequate treatment for it in Iraq.
2.7
The Migration Court denied the author’s appeal on 21 December 2018. It did not
question that author had been diagnosed with physical and mental illness but noted that her
condition seemed to have been decreasing after a crisis reaction following the negative
decision from the Migration Agency. It found that in order to be granted the re-evaluation
of an asylum decision based on health conditions, it must be established as plausible that
the condition was severe and lasting. The Migration Court concluded that the documents
presented in the author’s case did not support the assumption that the author’s mental
condition was lasting. The author claims that the Court did not assess whether it would be
possible for her to receive medical treatment in Iraq. As concerns the author’s diabetic
condition, the Court concluded that the author had not established that she would not be
able to receive care for that condition in Iraq. The decision was upheld by the Migration
Court of Appeal on 21 January 2019.
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