The UN Human Rights Committee determined Monday that Sweden violated the rights of a child with severe disabilities by deporting him to Albania without ensuring access to essential medical care.
The finding concerned E.B., an Albanian national diagnosed with multiple complex and life-threatening conditions, including autism, grave developmental disorder, spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, and epilepsy. E.B. and his family arrived in Sweden in 2012 seeking international protection and medical treatment. Following unsuccessful asylum applications and appeals, Swedish authorities deported the family in 2016 and again in 2019.
In its findings, the Committee recalled that states party must refrain from deporting individuals when there are substantial grounds to believe they would face a real risk of irreparable harm in the receiving country. It emphasized that such determinations must be based on a rigorous, individualized assessment of the person’s specific circumstances, particularly where vulnerable individuals, including children with disabilities, are concerned.
The Committee found that Swedish migration authorities failed to assess and verify medical evidence submitted during domestic proceedings adequately. The evidence indicated that E.B. depended on a vital medical shunt and required continuous specialist care, without which his life would be at risk, and that such care was not effectively accessible in Albania. The Committee further took note of claims that, following the first deportation, E.B. was denied treatment at a hospital in Tirana due to the complexity of his condition, and that after the second deportation, he relied on epilepsy medication supplied from Sweden through non-governmental channels.
On this basis, it concluded that Sweden’s removal decisions exposed E.B. to a foreseeable and real risk to his life, in violation of his rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It further noted that, as E.B. currently faces a new removal order, appropriate measures must be taken to prevent irreparable harm.
Under international law, children are recognized as autonomous rights holders and are afforded a distinct set of rights tailored to their age. Accordingly, they are entitled to special care and protection necessary to ensure their safety and well-being.
Moreover, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the primary international instrument governing children’s rights, establishes a comprehensive framework for the protection of children with disabilities. Article 23 of the CRC specifically recognizes that children with disabilities are entitled to special care, assistance, and conditions that ensure dignity, self-reliance, and active participation in society. Complementing this, Article 3 mandates that the “best interests of the child” shall be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children, including decisions relating to deportation, asylum, and access to healthcare. Read together, these provisions impose a heightened obligation on States to adopt child-sensitive and disability-inclusive approaches in all decision-making processes affecting such children.
