Eighteen-year-old Lena arrived in Sweden from Ukraine at the age of eight. She is now in high school, set to graduate this summer, and works part-time in elderly care. However, the Swedish migration agency has decided to deport her to Ukraine because she has turned 18. Meanwhile, Faris Al Abdullah, also 18, from Syria, who has been convicted of multiple serious crimes, will be allowed to stay in Sweden.

Both are 18 years old. Both come from war-torn countries. And both arrived in Sweden as children, the Swedish Samnytt news portal reports on the two cases.

Olena Bezhenar, known to most as Lena, arrived in Sweden with her family from Ukraine in the summer of 2014, just after turning eight. Faris Al Abdullah is from Syria and applied for residence permit with his family in January 2018 when he was eleven.

Lena is currently in the final semester of high school, studying to become a nurse. She is set to graduate this summer and works as an assistant in an elderly care home. She has no criminal record and speaks fluent Swedish. In contrast, Faris Al Abdullah has been convicted of several serious crimes, including robbery and drug offenses. He lived in a home for young offenders and is currently in custody in Stockholm on suspicion of attempted murder and terrorist activities. He was arrested last week on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack in Sweden.

Studying and working, yet facing deportation

On Tuesday, the same day that Faris Al Abdullah was arrested in an operation in Stockholm, Lena Bezhenar was notified by the Swedish migration agency that she will be deported to Ukraine after nearly eleven years in Sweden. The part of Ukraine she is from is considered safe enough. Lena has been given four weeks to pack her belongings and leave Sweden. If she does not leave in time, she risks being banned from returning not just to Sweden but to any Schengen country.

@lenabezhenar215 Hemskt att de kan ha en rättighet att kunna bestämma över någon annans liv! Att skicka ut en 18 åring i ett främmande land? De förstår inte att Ukraina är i krig och kriget kommer att pågå några år till! Blir så ledsen att man ska behöva lämna hela sin familj och hela sitt liv över att någon individ bestämmer att man inte är tillräckligt ”svensk”. Ska liksom ta stundenten till sommaren och sedan börja jobba inom vården direkt efter studenten + det är just där det är brist på personal också! Helt sjukt hur snabbt livet kan vändas upp och ner! #xyzbca #fyp #foryoupage #foryou #migrationssverket #sjuktsorligt #utvisad ♬ originalljud – Älskade ukrainaren

„This is shocking! You’ve lived here, your whole life is here, and then they can decide about your future in such a short time,” Lena told Samnytt, adding:

„Life can turn upside down in a second”.

Lena is planning to appeal the migration agency’s decision, though she has little hope of being allowed to stay. At the very least, she hopes to complete her high school education.

When Lena and her family arrived in Sweden in 2014, her parents applied for asylum for themselves and their children. The family’s asylum application was rejected in late summer 2016. However, Lena’s father was able to find work, allowing him to apply for a residence permit, which he was granted, along with his family. However, since Lena has now turned 18, of legal age, and she is no longer considered a dependent family member. Therefore, her application is processed separately—and has now been rejected.

In custody on suspicion of terrorism, yet allowed to stay

When Faris Al Abdullah arrived in Sweden from Syria in January 2018, his family received permanent residency within two months. Although Faris’s father was convicted of assault less than a year after arriving in Sweden, this did not affect the family’s refugee status. The father was later also convicted of human smuggling. Despite his father’s criminal record, Faris was granted Swedish citizenship in the spring of 2021, at the age of 14.

Since Faris Al Abdullah is now a Swedish citizen, it does not matter that he has committed multiple serious crimes. Nor does it matter that he is currently in custody as a suspected terrorist planning attacks in Sweden—he cannot be deported.