A man in Albania claims to be the father of Lisa, threatened with deportation.
Now he is seeking custody of the girl. But her Swedish guardian still wants her to stay in Sweden.
– It would be great if Lisa finds out who her father is, but she has no connection to him at all, it is to us, says Paulina Backström, Lisa’s guardian.
9-year-old Lisa’s place or non-place in Sweden gets a new dispute. The Swedish Migration Agency primarily wants her to be deported together with a parent. But the biological mother is neither in Sweden nor Albania and has stated to TV4 Nyheterna that she is not capable of taking care of Lisa. No father has been in the picture. Until now.
According to Albanian journalist Ervin Dushi, a man in Albania has come forward and claims to be Lisa’s biological father. The man also wants custody of Lisa and, according to Ervin Dushi, has started a process with the Albanian authorities.
– The court has not decided whether he has the right to custody or not, but it is underway. So the authorities are involved, he says.
Do not want to appear in the media
Ervin Dushi is from Albania but now lives in Sweden. On Monday, he participated in the Albanian television program Shqipëria Live and told about the background to Lisa’s case. It was after that that he decided to investigate the matter more closely and found a man who, with the help of a lawyer, is running a case to establish that he is Lisa’s father.
The man himself wishes to remain anonymous. In a message that TV4 Nyheterna received via Ervin Dushi, he writes that his daughter is only nine years old and that “her mental health is at stake” and that he therefore does not want to talk to the media.
For Paulina Backström, the news about a biological father came as a shock. She and her husband Hans are Lisa’s guardians and have not heard anything about this man before they read it in the newspaper this morning.
– I don’t know what to say, it’s a state of shock. The first thought was, oops, where has he been all Lisa’s life? If he wanted to have contact, he should have contacted the authorities in Sweden or an embassy. Second thought, if he is now the biological father, is he a healthy man with good intentions? says Paulina Backström.
“Talked to Lisa today”
According to Ervin Dushi, the man has said that he met Lisa when she was in Albania. Lisa was born in Sweden but has also lived in Albania for periods. The last time she was in the country was in 2019, when she was four years old.
– Me and Hans spoke to Lisa today so that she knows what is happening and doesn’t get to hear it from anyone else. Then we asked and she has absolutely no memory of a father, says Paulina Backström.