Published: Less than 40 min ago
FINE MONEY. Caroline was five years old when her father was murdered, and she herself was abused.
Now she will be deported to the country she fled from.
– Either it’s my brother who kills me or it’s me who takes my life, she says.
Caroline appears like any other teenager. She lives in a red house in the countryside of Östergötland. A rooster crows in the yard, and on the balcony there is a coffee pot and some pastries laid out.
In the fall, the idea was that she would start in ninth grade, but the future is uncertain. Caroline, her mother and little sister have just received a deportation order – without date.
Ten years ago they fled Kazakhstan. Caroline’s father worked as a police officer and investigated corruption in the country. He was regarded as a critic of the regime and therefore he and his family had a threatening image towards them.
– We moved around hotels and often had to stay with friends, says Caroline’s mother Dlinur.
Torture common
Torture and ill-treatment by the police in Kazakhstan is a recurring problem in Kazakhstan, according to a report by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to documents submitted to the Swedish Migration Agency, the father stormed into the home and shouted that he had been poisoned. He collapsed on the floor in front of them and died shortly thereafter, right in front of the family. Dlinur is convinced that the men who killed him were his police colleagues.
The masked men came to the family home and said they wanted documents from the family safe, but Dlinur did not know the code.
When they came back one more time, they shouted that they wanted the documents. Then they raped the mother, before one of the men assaulted Caroline, who was five years old at the time. After the abuse, the men took the entire safe with them.
Caroline locked herself in the closet, and stayed there for a long time.
– She ate and slept in there. As soon as I tried to open the door to talk to her, she screamed straight out, says Dlinur.
The mother Dlinur still lives with the guilt of what happened, even though it is not hers.
– I am not afraid of death, I only think about my girls, I want to protect them from the enemies in Kazakhstan, she says.
After the abuse, they fled to Sweden. The relationship between them has been problematic, as Caroline associates the trauma with her mother. This is evident from a statement from a doctor at BUP.
In 2018, the family moved into a HVB home, where they met Veronika who worked there. She got to know Caroline and felt that she could be a good support for her.
– I told Lasse that we are going to have children and that was it, says Veronika.
Caroline moved in with Veronika and Lasse Lindquist, who have worked with young people in various ways for the majority of their lives. Caroline has now lived there for three years.
Dlinur has felt so bad about what happened that she tried to leave custody of her children to Veronika.
– To have to live with that pain as a mother… To hear a mother say I give you my children, it knots in the stomach, says Veronika.
Finally feeling safe
In the family home with Veronika and Lasse, Caroline has finally found security.
Lasse usually screws with cars in the garage next door. The cats often lie on the cars and bask in the sun. And Caroline has developed an interest in technology since moving in with the family.
She wants to study electricity or technology in high school, but the threat of expulsion always lurks in the back of her mind.
– I often think about the future. My dreams and goals will never come true if I am deported, says Caroline.
Caroline used to be called Dilnaz, but after the trauma she changed her name.
– I just want to forget what happened there, I am someone else now, she says.
Two little pugs bark from upstairs when we go up the stairs in the house.
Caroline shows us around her room, which overlooks the garden area and pool, which Lasse built a few years ago.
– We swim there almost every day now, says Caroline.
Down on the balcony, her eight-year-old little sister Aysha is sitting and eating a carrot they picked from the garden. She was born in Sweden but is also not considered to have a strong enough connection here to be allowed to stay. Instead, she will be exiled to a country she has never been to.
“To be slaughtered like lambs”
Remaining in Kazakhstan, Caroline’s older brother has said that the family will be “slaughtered like lambs” and that he will “split open their intestines” if they return.
– There is a risk that my brother will kill me. Either he kills me or I take my life. That’s how I feel now, says Caroline.
He is a religious fanatic and has seen pictures of Caroline on social media wearing a cross. After that, he left several threatening voicemails.
The audio files, with several pronounced death threats and other serious threats, have been submitted to the Swedish Migration Agency, which believes that it is not possible to prove that it is he who utters the threats.
The family has stated in the application to the Swedish Migration Agency that they risk persecution in their home country if they return and also raised Caroline’s mental health as a reason why she should be allowed to stay.
During the first conversation with BUP, she ended up in an unconscious state, according to a doctor’s certificate that Aftonbladet has seen. They have recommended that Caroline stay in the family home because she felt better there, and have assessed Caroline’s account as credible.
It is only in recent years that she has dared to talk about her trauma.
– Post-traumatic stress can appear later in life, children often push away difficult things. If she is deported, she risks re-trauma, says Veronika.
The Swedish Migration Agency believes that since she is feeling better now, she can be deported, according to the announcement that came on July 1.
– As soon as there is silence from them, you start planning for the future. Then comes a new message, like this, like a slap in the face, says Lasse.
Caroline has also stated that she is afraid of being subjected to further abuse, but the Swedish Migration Agency does not assess that there is any risk of that because it happened a long time ago.
– Such a thing never fades. These people remember. If these were the neighbors’ children, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about them being sent somewhere, says Veronika.
“It can constitute torture”
Karin Gyllenring is a lawyer and founder of the Asylum Agency. She believes that it can be enough that you are at risk of being subjected to torture for you to receive protection in Sweden.
– If the violence is perpetrated by an authority figure, if it is about some form of punishment for something someone related to the person has done or is suspected of having done, it can also constitute torture, says Karin Gyllenring.
In Caroline’s case, where men had the aim of obtaining documents through threats of violence and then carried out violence, this could mean that they were subjected to torture.
– If it is possible to prove that you have injuries that probably occurred as a result of torture, the burden of proof is reversed. Then the state must prove that you were not subjected to torture through a torture injury investigation, says Karin Gyllenring.
IN UN Torture Convention states that torture can be the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person in order to obtain information.
– According to the country reports that are available about the country, it is clear that torture occurs in Kazakhstan, she says.
There is also something called particularly painful circumstances that could be relevant in Caroline’s case.
– If you have lived all your formative years, i.e. seven to fifteen years, in Sweden and are very integrated and you can show that it is harmful for you as a child to be forced to return to your home country, then you can get a residence permit due to special painful circumstances, says Karin Gyllenring.
Aftonbladet has applied to the Swedish Migration Agency, which has chosen to comment after publication.