BEIRUT: The Swedish Embassy has said a media report claiming 1,500 Lebanese citizens are facing deportation from the country “does not seem to conform with reality,” and only around 50 have been ejected over the past five months.
“During the first five months of this year, some 50 people were deported from Sweden to Lebanon,” the embassy said in a press release.
It said a report in a Lebanese newspaper recently that up to 1,500 Lebanese living in Sweden were facing deportation “does not seem to conform with reality.”
“Over the years, Sweden has received tens of thousands of immigrants from Lebanon. Whether to seek protection during times of hardship in their homeland, to form a family or to study or benefit from work opportunities, they have typically integrated well and contributed to Swedish society and to trade and cultural exchange between our countries,” the statement added.
It said Sweden reserves the right to set the criteria for who has the right to reside in the country.
“Anyone who does not have a valid ground for residence, whether asylum, family reunification, studies or work, will be asked to leave the country,” the embassy statement said.
“Failure to leave voluntarily will ultimately make a person susceptible to deportation,” the statement added.
It said that the obligation of the country of origin to receive its citizens back was both a requirement under international law and an obvious precondition to the smooth functioning of international migration.