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Assignment: On the Run in Sweden

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19/08/2010

On the Run in Sweden

BBC World Service - Assignment, On the Run in Sweden

Sweden gets tough on Iraqi asylum seekers

Tim Mansel travels to Sweden to talk to Iraqi refugees there who are living in fear of being forcibly deported back to Iraq.

Sweden has garnered respect around the world for the welcome it offered to thousands of Iraqi refugees after the invasion of 2003. 

It has taken more Iraqis than any other country in Europe - indeed one small town outside Stockholm, Södertälje, has taken more than the United States. 

But 3,000 of those refugees are now living in hiding. Their applications for permanent residency have been denied and they face deportation if they are arrested. 

Tim Mansel reports from Sweden on why the government has decided it is safe to send many of these people home.

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