Eze Okafor, a Nigerian man and a victim of Boko Haram who had been living in Iceland for the past 4 years, was deported by authorities and sent to Sweden in late May, Al-Jazeera reported Monday.
Okafor fled Nigeria after being targeted by Boko Haram. In 2010, he and his younger brother, Okey, were attacked after they refused to join the group. Okafor was stabbed in the head and face and his brother was killed.
Soon after the incident, Okafor left Nigeria and made a dangerous boat journey to Sweden, where he sought asylum in 2011. After being denied, he made his way to Iceland, where he again was denied asylum.
Working as a cook in a local restaurant, learning to speak Icelandic and building community for the past 4 years, Okafor was granted permission to stay in Iceland on humanitarian grounds in October, with the help of lawyer Katrin Theodorsdottir.
His case in Iceland was contingent on Article 19 of the Dublin Regulation, which determines which EU member state is responsible for asylum seekers. It lays out a timeframe of six months within which an asylum seeker must be sent back to the country where they were originally asking for asylum, otherwise the country the asylum seeker is currently residing in is responsible for processing their asylum case.
After many rejections and back-and-forth appeals between immigration authorities, a special immigration committee that was reviewing Okafor’s case said the time limit to send him back to Sweden might have expired. They then advised him to go to the immigration office and have his application for asylum processed.
When Okafor went to the immigration office he was told to wait, and then was arrested.
“The police said I should come to sign and all of a sudden they took me into custody. They arrested me. I spent the night in jail,” Eze told Al Jazeera.
“In Iceland, I have been integrated into society, with so many friends. A lot of people know me. So when the police was beating me, when I was arrested, there was a lot of reaction,” he explained.
When Okafor was handcuffed and put on a plane for deportation to Sweden, two members of the rights group No Borders Iceland boarded with him and stood up in protest. They were arrested after about 10 minutes.
Once Okafur arrived in Sweden, Icelandic authorities took away his only ID—his Nigerian driver’s license—and he was given a piece of paper saying he had no right to financial assistance. Without money or any identification, he was turned out into the street where he spent his first night.
Swedish immigration authorities also told him he had until June 1 to leave Sweden or be deported back to Nigeria.
While Okafor is uncertain about his future, he knows that his return to Nigeria would be a death sentence.
“What I am facing in Nigeria is that this Islamic group is after my life. My life is in danger,” he told Al Jazeera.
With a dream to return to his home in Iceland, he is working to find a lawyer who could take his case in Sweden. Theodorsdottir has requested that he be granted permission to live in Iceland on humanitarian grounds, a request which is still pending.
“When I was in handcuffs on my way to Sweden, I was pleading with them,” Okafor said. “I am not a criminal. I did not commit any crime. I am asking for refuge. They should treat me like a human.”
