Sweden: Deportation nears for trans woman abused in native Russia
Time is fast running out for a Russian trans woman who, it was reported recently in Pink News, fears being forced by Swedish authorities to return to Russia, where she expects to face violence and possible imprisonment at the hands of the authorities.
According to “Lita”, as she is known officially in Sweden, she received a phone call this morning requiring her to report to the Immigration Board at 11.30 am on Monday 7 May.
She will then be removed from the country the very next day.
According to Lita, this is the end. She told us: “There will be a simple choice for me: between fast death in russia and slow death if i would be in sweden illegally”.
Today’s news comes as Lita learned that a final appeal by her lawyer to the European Court of Human Justice for a stay on her deportation had “not yet been processed”. Her efforts at seeking asylum in Sweden have been rejected both by officials and the courts there.
A week ago, she heard that her request to the ECHR to grant a “stay” in respect of her deportation had also proven fruitless.
Her life may therefore quite hang by a thread. Swedish LGBT rights organisation RFSL are making last ditch efforts to assist her in her legal efforts.
In the end, though, the difference between an ECHR decision to stay her deportation and her removal to Russia could be little more than a matter of timing – a few hours one way or the other – this Monday.
