Denmark and Sweden deportations are exposing young women to possible gender-based persecution in countries such as Iran and Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday, as Stockholm faces renewed scrutiny over so-called teenage deportations that have split families and sent young adults away from the country where many grew up.
Human Rights Watch said Swedish authorities are deporting or threatening to deport young women to countries where their rights and autonomy may be severely restricted because they are women. The organisation said the cases raise questions about Sweden’s human rights obligations, including the principle that people must not be returned to places where they face a real risk of serious harm.
The warning follows an investigation by Aftonbladet, which found that at least 92 young adults aged 18 to 21 received decisions in 2025 that could be classified as teenage deportations. These cases involve young people whose parents often have the right to remain in Sweden, while they lose their own residence status after turning 18.
Sweden deportations and the age gap in migration law
The Swedish debate centres on the term teenage deportations (tonårsutvisningar). It refers to cases in which young people who arrived in Sweden as children through family ties are treated as adults once they turn 18 and no longer qualify under the same rules as their parents or younger siblings.
Under current rules, young people who held temporary residence permits through a parent can lose the basis for renewal when they become adults. The Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) has explained that, after the age of 18, family ties to parents are generally no longer enough unless there is a special dependency relationship. Ordinary parent-child ties are not sufficient.
This legal threshold has become more consequential since Sweden moved away from permanent residence permits as the main rule and made temporary permits more common. A young person who has lived in Sweden for years can therefore reach adulthood before becoming eligible for permanent residence.
Aftonbladet’s review found that 92 of 198 cases examined in 2025 involved young adults between 18 and 21 who had applied for residence through family ties and were refused. Many had attended Swedish schools, built social networks in Sweden and still had immediate family in the country.
HRW warns of gender-based persecution
Human Rights Watch said the risk is especially acute for young women deported to countries where gender discrimination is embedded in law, public life and social norms.
“The Swedish government is sending young women to situations where they may have to give up their rights and autonomy just to survive,” Susanne Bergsten, research assistant at Human Rights Watch, said.
The organisation cited cases involving young women sent or threatened with removal to Iran. HRW said women in Iran face discrimination in areas including marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody. It also referred to findings by United Nations investigators that Iranian authorities have committed gender persecution through restrictions on bodily autonomy, expression, education and employment.
Afghanistan is another central concern. Sweden has previously recognised that women and girls from Afghanistan generally face persecution under Taliban rule. In 2022, Swedish authorities said Afghan women and girls should be granted refugee status and a three-year residence permit because of the situation in the country. HRW argues that deportation decisions must consistently take such gender-based risks into account.
The issue is not only whether young women can physically return to a country of origin. It is also whether they can live there safely and independently after years in Sweden, often without family networks, financial security or social protection.
A government reform has not ended the criticism
The Swedish government has already moved to address part of the problem. On 1 June, it presented a proposal to create a new legal “safety valve” for young adults aged 18 to 21 who have had residence permits through ties to their parents.
Under the proposal, these young adults could continue to receive residence permits after turning 18. People who received final deportation decisions in 2025 or 2026 and are still in Sweden would also be allowed to apply again from within the country. Those who have already left Sweden could apply from abroad.
The Swedish Migration Agency said on 2 June that it would continue to pause decisions and stop enforcement in affected cases while preparing for the possible new rules. The proposal is expected to enter into force on 1 October 2026 if approved by the Riksdag.
For HRW, however, the reform does not resolve the underlying issue. The organisation said it may offer temporary relief but still leaves open the question of what happens when young adults turn 21. It also does not fully address whether Sweden is properly assessing the specific risks faced by women returned to countries where gender-based persecution is well documented.
Family separation adds a human rights dimension
The cases also raise questions about family life. HRW said deporting young adults alone can separate them from parents and siblings who remain legally in Sweden. In some cases, younger siblings are Swedish citizens or have permanent residence, while the older child is removed because they reached adulthood during the residence process.
This creates a legal divide inside the same family. A person can be considered too old to remain as a child, but too young or insufficiently established to qualify for a separate permit based on work, study or other grounds.
Sweden’s stricter migration policy has been shaped by a broader political shift after the large asylum arrivals of 2015. Successive governments have tightened rules on residence permits, family reunification and work permits. The current centre-right government, supported by the Sweden Democrats, has made restrictive migration policy a central priority.
The teenage deportation cases have nevertheless triggered wider public criticism because many of the affected young people are portrayed as highly integrated, law-abiding and educated in Sweden. For critics, the issue shows how formal rules can produce outcomes that appear disconnected from integration, family life and protection needs.
A test for Sweden’s rights-based migration system
The HRW warning places Sweden at the intersection of two pressures: the political demand for stricter migration control and the legal obligation to assess individual risks before removal.
For Nordic and European observers, the case is significant because Sweden has long presented itself as a rights-based democracy with strong commitments to gender equality and international protection. The controversy shows how those commitments can come under strain when migration rules interact with age thresholds, temporary permits and long processing times.
The immediate question is whether the new government proposal will prevent further family separations among young adults who grew up in Sweden. The broader question is whether Swedish authorities will give enough weight to gender-based persecution when assessing deportations to countries where women’s rights are severely restricted.
If the Riksdag approves the reform, some young adults may gain a new route to remain in Sweden. But HRW’s warning suggests that the debate will not end with the age limit. It will continue around Sweden’s responsibility to protect young women from return to countries where their safety, autonomy and basic rights may be at risk.
