“Wrongly reported in the media”

Nine-year-old Lisa is to be deported to Albania.
The case has received a lot of attention – but the Swedish Migration Agency believes that the media has been responsible for unvarnished reporting.
– The starting point is that the child’s best interests are to be with their mother, says Carl Bexelius, head of justice at the Swedish Migration Agency.

In a series of articles and features, TV4 News has reported on the case of the nine-year-old girl Lisa, who is to be deported to Albania.

The girl was born in Sweden and has lived here most of her life. In recent years, she has lived with the Backström couple outside Lidköping, a couple she met for the first time as a one-year-old and who are now her guardians.

Now, however, further attempts are being made to stop the deportation. It is the guardians and Lisa’s new lawyers who apply for a so-called impediment to enforcement with the Swedish Migration Agency. New circumstances are presented in the hope of a reconsideration.

Hoping to be reunited with the biological mother

The commitment around Lisa’s case has been great. On March 22, a large demonstration was held at Gustav Adolfs Torg in Stockholm, where Lisa was present.

Carl Bexelius is head of law at the Migration Agency and understands the great commitment to the girl, but says that the information that the girl will be deported alone to an orphanage is unvarnished because the authorities hope to reunite the girl with her biological mother before the deportation.

– I think this is very important. It is something that may have come across a little incorrectly in the media. The starting point is that when it is a lone child who is to be deported, he must be deported together with a parent as a starting point. The second is that if it is deported to another country, then it is an orderly reception that applies. It is family in the first place and in the second place there are other relatives who can step in, says Bexelius.

The foster mother: “It’s really terrible”

According to the Swedish Migration Agency, the foster parents have a good relationship with the girl. But the biological mother has been in contact with her throughout her life and is considered to be feeling better today and now able to take care of her. In addition, the authority points out that there will be a network of relatives in Albania who will be able to help.

– They have changed everything and believe that the biological mother has a stronger connection to Lisa than we do. It’s really terrible that a person in an office can sit and make this up. It’s actually really scary, says Lisa’s foster mother and guardian Paulina Backström.

Carl Bexelius at the Swedish Migration Agency again:

– The starting point for the child’s best interests is that it should be with its mother. This is a nine-year-old girl, and there it is above all the proximity to her parents that is the most important thing. Then we and the court have made the assessment that a return to Albania – when you do not have the right to stay here – is the best answer to what is best for this girl.