Some of them defected and others worked in the army before the revolution..Syrians were deprived of Swedish citizenship for their mandatory military service

STOCKHOLM

- The Syrian youth, Ali Derkali, arrived in Sweden in the summer of 2015, and obtained protection and permanent residence there, but when he applied for its citizenship, his application was rejected because of his involvement in the Syrian army, which he defected from in 2012 after the outbreak of the revolution there.

Derqli, who hails from Aleppo governorate, told Al Jazeera Net that he was called up for mandatory military service in Syria in 2010, but he defected from the army in 2012 due to the events taking place there.

He added, "I did not willingly join the army, it was mandatory, and I was not a party to the suppression of the revolution and the killing of protesters, and I spent my time working from home, and I paid a monthly sum of money to the officer responsible for me instead of working hours, and when I had the opportunity I split from the army in 2012."

The Swedish Migration Agency bases its decision regarding the refusal to grant Swedish citizenship to Drakley on a 2004 decision of its government, which states that an applicant who has been active or has influence in an organization whose work is known to have involved systematic and serious violations such as torture, murder and extrajudicial executions, should not be granted Swedish citizenship until a long period of time has elapsed since leaving that organization or since its activity ceased, and this period is 25 years.

In its decision, the Migration Agency stated that Derqli had stated during an interview with him that he worked as a driver for an officer in the Syrian army in the Jabal al-Sheikh region between 2010 and 2012, and it was not long before Derqli finished his service in the Syrian armed forces, so the authority decided to reject his request.

Derkali describes the decision as a great injustice against him because he did not participate in the battles and did not commit any crime, he said. because of the refusal to grant me citizenship.

"My parents live in the Middle East, and I can't visit them and haven't seen them for several years," he adds.

Ali Derkaly has been a ski coach in a local sports club for more than 6 years.

Last Tuesday, he submitted an objection to the Migration Agency's decision to the Administrative Court to consider his application again, but it was also rejected.

The Syrian Ali Derqali, the Sudanese authorities rejected his request to obtain its citizenship because of his mandatory service in the Syrian army (Al-Jazeera)

stateless children

According to the Syrian community in Sweden, its immigration department rejected the request to grant Swedish citizenship to a large number of Syrians residing in the country, and the refusal included people who defected from the Syrian army or others who were conscripted in it before 2011, as is the case with the Syrian Saud.

Saud hails from Al-Hasakah Governorate. He arrived in Sweden in 2013 and obtained permanent residency there. The Migration Agency rejected his request for Swedish citizenship as well, despite the end of his military service at least ten years before the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Saud said that refusing to grant him citizenship is an unjust decision, indicating that he objected to it before the Administrative Court, but it also refused to grant him citizenship.

Saud wonders, "How can I be accused of belonging to an organization that I had no choice in joining? Military service in Syria is mandatory and I cannot refuse to perform it, otherwise I will be arrested and tortured."

Saud attributed the reason for refusing to grant him citizenship to his service in the military hospital in Damascus, which used to receive political and military detainees who were tortured.

"We were just giving them treatment, and it wasn't my choice," he said.

He added, "This decision is unjust, my life was greatly affected by it, and my children who were born here were denied citizenship because of this decision, and I cannot even register them at the Syrian embassy in Sweden, and today they live without citizenship."

The Swedish Migration Agency based its decision to refuse to grant Saud citizenship on the government's decision in 2004 as well.

The Syrian army is a "terrorist organization"

Al Jazeera Net contacted the Swedish Migration Agency, which replied that Swedish citizenship, according to the law, is not a right, but that a person can obtain it if he fulfills the required conditions.

The Swedish Migration Agency added that it considers the Syrian army since March 2011, according to a government decision issued in 2004 based on the decision of the European Court of Justice in this regard, as an organization that has committed war crimes and violations against human rights.

Accordingly, the Swedish authorities rejected the applications of a large number of Syrian refugees with them to obtain Swedish citizenship, who were conscripts or officers in the Syrian army, even if they did not participate in the battles that took place since 2011.

One of the headquarters of the Swedish Migration Agency in Stockholm (Al Jazeera)

Hundreds of requests were rejected

From 2019 until now, the number of Syrians whom the Swedish authorities refused to grant their citizenship to has reached 358 refugees, on the grounds of their participation in military service in Syria and human rights issues, according to data from the Stockholm Migration Agency.

The lawyer specialized in civil status and immigration issues, Maysam Yaqin, told Al Jazeera Net that the Swedish government's decision does not stipulate that the individual himself should be directly or indirectly involved in the violations committed by the organization or the army in which he worked.

It is sufficient, according to the lawyer, to be "active" in the organization or "had influence or control" over it in order to be subject to discretionary review before obtaining citizenship.

The decision also includes persons who have an undeclared association with any unit, group or persons who have expressed sympathy with these parties and their actions against human rights.

Others got it

According to data from the Stockholm Migration Agency on its official website, more than 31,000 Syrian residents obtained Swedish citizenship in 2021, more than 25,000 in 2020, and more than 29,000 in 2019.

According to the site, Swedish citizenship is granted to people who have obtained permanent residence, the right of residence, and those who have a residence card (people who are citizens of the European Union), and have proven their identities by providing documents such as passports and others, approved by the Swedish authorities, and have been in Sweden for a period of time ranging from 4 to 8 years, and they have not committed a crime or a legal violation.