Sweden’s Migration Service and courts have ordered that a 76-year-old grandmother, who suffered a stroke that left her unable to walk while visiting the country, be sent back to Russia.
Gradislava Petukhova, from the northern Russian city of Murmansk, became ill while visiting her daughter Irina Ogren, who lives in Sweden, in 2010.
“She hasn’t been able to walk for two years already, and needs a wheelchair to move around. We asked the Swedish authorities to let her stay with us, because back in Murmansk there is no-one to care for her, no relatives or friends,” Ogren said.
Petukhov’s daughter, son-in-law and grandsons are all prepared to take on responsibility for caring for her, she says.
A judge however, ruled that her life was not in danger and her condition did not prevent her from returning home.
“She does not require any special treatment in Sweden which she could not get in her home country,” the court said. “She could not demonstrate that she was unable to get adequate care in Russia either by paying herself or using Russian state funds. She also has means to live in Russia.”
Her relatives are adamant they want no help from the state in Sweden. “We don’t want any material help or benefits from the Swedish state,” Ogren said. “I ask them only for one thing – to let my paralyzed 76-year old mom live with me at home. Deporting her to Russia without care as the authorities want to do is sending her to a slow death.”