EX GITMO DETAINEE GETS SWEDISH RESIDENCY ON APPEAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000113

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (MARKINGS IN PARA 2)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PHUM SW
SUBJECT: EX GITMO DETAINEE GETS SWEDISH RESIDENCY ON APPEAL

REF: A. STOCKHOLM 31

B. 2008 STOCKHOLM 722

Classified By: CDA Robert Silverman for reasons 1.4 (B) & (D).


1. (U) On February 18, the Swedish Migration Court, which
hears appeals from petitioners unhappy with rulings from the
autonomous Swedish Migration Board (SMB),granted permanent
residency with refugee status to Adil Hakimjan, an ethnic
Uighur and former Guantanamo detainee. The SMB denied
Hakimjan residency in June 2008 based on the "first asylum
principle" as he had already been given asylum in Albania
(ref B). The Court overturned the SMB decision out of
consideration of three points: the first asylum principle
does not apply to Hakimjan, as Albania was the only option
given to him to leave Guantanamo; his only relative outside
of China, a sister, is resident in Sweden; and "humanitarian
reasons" as Hakimjan was detained nearly five years under
"special circumstances" in Guantanamo. The SMB has three
weeks to appeal the Court's decision, but there is no
indication at this point that it will do so.


2. (C) Comment: As per ref B, the SMB made clear to us in
October that Hakimjan had no real grounds for his appeal
against the SMB ruling. We assess that the Court's ruling on
the basis of "humanitarian reasons" deriving from "special
circumstances" reflects some input from the government, which
under Swedish law is allowed to direct the SMB to consider
specific groups of persons for resettlement in Sweden (ref
A). If so, the government may be using the Hakimjan case as
a trial balloon, easing the Swedish public toward acceptance
of a plan to resettle a few more Guantanamo detainees in
Sweden.


SILVERMAN