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Sweden To Deport 106-Year-Old Afghan Woman

A 106-year-old Afghan woman who made a perilous journey to Europe is facing deportation from Sweden after her asylum application was rejected.

The Associated Press first encountered Bibihal Uzbeki and her family in 2015, in a refugee camp in Croatia.

The centenarian, from Kunduz, Afghanistan, had crossed from Serbia with a large group of refugees, including her son, grandson and other relatives.

At the time she told AP she was 105 - though her age could not be independently verified as her documents were being processed by the Croatian police.

Crossing mountains, deserts, seas and forests was dangerous and exhausting, even for people one-fifth her age.

But after a month of travel, Uzbeki and her family finally reached their destination - Sweden.

Nearly two years later, they are settled in the small, central town of Hova.

But for the Uzbekis, there is still no happy ending, AP reported.

Her son and grandson and their families saw their asylum application denied in January.

And this June, the now 106-year-old was equally rejected and could now face deportation back to Afghanistan.

The family appealed the decisions, but say the stress was too much for the centenarian who had a stroke recently.

One side of her body is now disabled, she can only eat soft food and can barely speak.

At night, they say she struggles to sleep due to nightmares that someone is coming to kill her.
Mohammed Uzbeki, grandson of Bibihal:

"When we received the negative response we didn't tell our grandmother. My sisters were crying, my grandmother asked why are you crying? My youngest sister said we've received a rejection and the Swedish government will deport us if we receive more rejections. When the grandmother heard this she had a stroke," said Mohammed Uzbeki, her grandson. 

Afghan asylum seekers face greater difficulties compared to Syrians as the Swedish Migration Agency argues that parts of Afghanistan are safe.

"They (Swedish authorities) told us it's true that there is an ongoing war in Afghanistan and it's not safe, however that's not going to help you secure asylum, you should have a specific and clear enemy," says Uzbeki's grandson, 22-year-old Mohammed.

AP reported that in a written statement, the Migration Agency said that a decision had been made "regarding an expulsion in this case, but it has been appealed".

It said it could not provide details about specific cases, but added that "generally speaking high age does not in itself provide grounds for asylum".

Sanna Vestin, President of the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups said: "The reasoning from the Migration Agency is that it's not unsafe enough in Afghanistan, there are secure areas where you can go. And this is a bit of the problem because the areas pointed out are the big cities, Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif. As the European Union migration agency points out, these are not very safe areas for the moment."

Sweden To Deport 106-Year-Old Afghan Woman

Bibihal Uzbeki crossed mountains, deserts, seas and forests to get from Kunduz to Sweden only to have her asylum application rejected, Associated Press reports. 

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A 106-year-old Afghan woman who made a perilous journey to Europe is facing deportation from Sweden after her asylum application was rejected.

The Associated Press first encountered Bibihal Uzbeki and her family in 2015, in a refugee camp in Croatia.

The centenarian, from Kunduz, Afghanistan, had crossed from Serbia with a large group of refugees, including her son, grandson and other relatives.

At the time she told AP she was 105 - though her age could not be independently verified as her documents were being processed by the Croatian police.

Crossing mountains, deserts, seas and forests was dangerous and exhausting, even for people one-fifth her age.

But after a month of travel, Uzbeki and her family finally reached their destination - Sweden.

Nearly two years later, they are settled in the small, central town of Hova.

But for the Uzbekis, there is still no happy ending, AP reported.

Her son and grandson and their families saw their asylum application denied in January.

And this June, the now 106-year-old was equally rejected and could now face deportation back to Afghanistan.

The family appealed the decisions, but say the stress was too much for the centenarian who had a stroke recently.

One side of her body is now disabled, she can only eat soft food and can barely speak.

At night, they say she struggles to sleep due to nightmares that someone is coming to kill her.
Mohammed Uzbeki, grandson of Bibihal:

"When we received the negative response we didn't tell our grandmother. My sisters were crying, my grandmother asked why are you crying? My youngest sister said we've received a rejection and the Swedish government will deport us if we receive more rejections. When the grandmother heard this she had a stroke," said Mohammed Uzbeki, her grandson. 

Afghan asylum seekers face greater difficulties compared to Syrians as the Swedish Migration Agency argues that parts of Afghanistan are safe.

"They (Swedish authorities) told us it's true that there is an ongoing war in Afghanistan and it's not safe, however that's not going to help you secure asylum, you should have a specific and clear enemy," says Uzbeki's grandson, 22-year-old Mohammed.

AP reported that in a written statement, the Migration Agency said that a decision had been made "regarding an expulsion in this case, but it has been appealed".

It said it could not provide details about specific cases, but added that "generally speaking high age does not in itself provide grounds for asylum".

Sanna Vestin, President of the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups said: "The reasoning from the Migration Agency is that it's not unsafe enough in Afghanistan, there are secure areas where you can go. And this is a bit of the problem because the areas pointed out are the big cities, Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif. As the European Union migration agency points out, these are not very safe areas for the moment."

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