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CAP Freedom of Conscience joins the urgent call by the International Human Rights Committee for Miss Amtul Mateen not to be deported to Pakistan.
ATTENTION:
Honourable Stefan Löfven (Prime Minister of Sweden)
Honourable Morgan Johansson (Minister for Justice and Migration, Sweden)
URGENT APPEAL
24 May 2021
REQUEST TO IMMEDIATELY HALT DEPORTATION OF 73-YEAR-OLD DISABLED
AHMADI WOMAN FROM SWEDEN
The International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) is seriously concerned as an unlawful deportation is due to take place from Sweden to Pakistan.
AMTUL MATEEN: The Swedish authorities are planning to deport Miss Amtul Mateen (a 73-year-old woman) who is disabled and also blind. She also belongs to the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith, a persecuted community in Pakistan. Her Asylum Case number is: Case # 50442540.
Sweden authorities are deporting an innocent asylum-seeker belonging to the Ahmadiyya faith in breach of all national and international laws and conventions. The eligibility guidelines of the UNHCR1 explicitly state that:
”In light of the foregoing, UNHCR considers that members of the Ahmadi community, including those targeted by militant groups or charged with criminal offences under the blasphemy or antiAhmadi provisions, are likely to be in need of international refugee protection on account of religion, ethnicity, (imputed) political opinion, and/or other relevant grounds, depending on the individual circumstances of the case.”
Despite clear and unequivocal guidelines by the UNHCR, the deportation and denial of asylum cases by Swedish courts and immigration authorities are placing the lives of Ahmadis at risk. The Ahmadis in Pakistan are continuously facing brutal and unjust criminal charges, due to their faith. Additionally, the official latest Report of the Dutch Government, United Kingdom Home Office of 2021 and Austrian Red Cross (ACCORD) 2 3 testify that:
‘Unlike the position of Ahmadis, Christians in general are permitted to practise their faith, can attend church, participate in religious activities and have their own schools and hospitals’.
This shows the brutal and horrific treatment of Ahmdis in Pakistan. Please find enclosed copies of all reports. Sweden has always been at the forefront of protecting minorities and is the signatory of multiple international conventions. As the European Parliamentarian recognized, Ahmadis in Pakistan are religiously, socially, and economically discriminated and all their rights particularly the right to profess and practice their faith have been taken away.
We appeal to the Swedish Prime Minister and those concerned parties to acknowledge the fact that the Blasphemy laws are a real and existential threat to the fundamental human rights of minorities including Ahmadis as noted by the Resolution passed on 28 April 2021 by the European Parliament (2021/2647(RSP) 4 .
We urge the Swedish Government to stop the deportation of Amtul Mateen and all other Ahmadis to Pakistan, who potentially face life imprisonment or the death penalty under blasphemy law for practising their belief. These members of the Ahmadiyya Mulsim Community are currently seeking protection in Sweden. THE IHRC calls for immediate action to stop the deportations of Ahmadis from Sweden to Pakistan.
Copies:
1. Ahmad Shaheed (Special Rapporteur on freedom of Religion or Belief)
2. Dunja Mijatovic (Commissioner of Human Rights, Council of Europe)
3. Michelle Bachelet Jeria (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights)
1 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Members of Religious Minorities from Pakistan, January 2017, HCR/EG/PAK/17/01, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5857ed0e4.html [accessed 3 May 2021]
2 https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1370401/download
3 https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2047750/ACCORD-Pakistan-Religious-Minorities-March-2021.pdf
4 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-9-2021-0254_EN.html
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