CAT/C/37/D/279/2005**
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entered into force, the Swedish Migration Board, acting upon an application from an alien or
of its own initiative, may grant a residence permit, inter alia, if there is reason to believe that
the intended country of return will not be willing to accept the alien or if there are medical
obstacles to enforcing the order.
4.2 Furthermore, a residence permit may be granted if it is of urgent humanitarian interest
for some other reason. When assessing the humanitarian aspects, particular account shall be
taken of whether the alien has been in Sweden for a long time and if, on account of the
situation in the receiving country, the use of coercive measures would not be considered
possible when enforcing the refusal-of-entry or expulsion order. Further special
considerations shall be given to a child's social situation, his or her period of residence in and
ties to the State party, and the risk of causing harm to the child's health and development. It
must also be considered whether the alien committed crimes and a residence permit may be
refused for security reasons. Decisions made by the Migration Board under Chapter 2,
Section 5 b, as amended, are not subject to appeal.
4.3 On the facts, the State party provides the reasoning behind the Migration Board’s
decision to reject the application for refugee status under chapter 3, section 2 of the Aliens
Act, for residence permits as aliens otherwise in need of protection under chapter 3, section 3
and for residence permits on humanitarian grounds under chapter 2, section 4, paragraph 1,
sub-paragraph 5. It considered that: the general political situation in Rwanda did not per se
constitute a ground to grant the complainants asylum; according to the EU special
representative in the region there had been positive developments in Rwanda following the
general elections in 2003; the PDR-Ubuyanja party was banned before the elections in 2003
and unknown persons previously suspected of involvement in the party or persons who have
been active in the party at a low level cannot be considered to run any risk of persecution or
harassment; and the credibility of certain of the first-named complainant’s statements was
doubtful. The State party submits that, while both the Migration Board and Aliens Appeals
Board found reason to question the credibility of certain statements made by the first named
complainant, this was not the decisive factor for their decisions. Indeed, the Migration Board
found that irrespective of the factors which detracted from the complainant’s credibility, the
developments in Rwanda after the 2003 elections had been such as to render it unlikely that
she would be at risk of persecution due to her membership of the PDR-Ubuyanja party.
4.4 Since the new application to the Aliens Appeal Board was denied on 7 September 2005,
another new application was lodged on 23 September 2005. On 21 November 2005, it was
transferred from the Aliens Appeals Board to the Migration Board for determination, in
accordance with the temporary legislation contained in chapter 2, section 5 b of the 1989
Aliens Act. On 3 March 2006, the Migration Board denied the application, as the medical
certificates furnished by the complainants (including a psychologist’s certificate of 31 July
2005) did not show that the first named complainant suffered from such a serious mental
illness or comparable condition that she could be granted a residence permit on medical
grounds. As regards the second named complainant, who was then nearly three years, the
Board was of the view that he had not developed such close ties with Sweden that he could be
granted a residence permit on that ground. On 16 March 2006, the complainants lodged an
additional application with the Migration Board for a residence permit under the temporary
legislation contained in chapter 2, section 5 b of the 1989 Aliens Act. On 15 August 2006, the
State party subsequently informed the Committee that by a decision of 5 July 2006, the Board
found that the complainants were not entitled to residence permits. While it considered
medical and psychological opinions not previously presented to the Swedish authorities, it