Sweden will not amend 'wife import' rules

Sweden will not amend 'wife import' rules

Equality Minister Maria Arnholm wants Sweden to keep the right to deport women whose relationships with Swedish spouses end within two years of their arrival in Sweden.

The two-year rule was introduced in an effort to clamp down on sham marriages and to put an end to so-called "wife imports".

But it has been blamed for forcing women to remain in abusive relationships, with a 2012 government-ordered inquiry recommending the rule be abolished.

According to Eva Eriksson, who carried out that inquiry on behalf of the former equality minister, Nyamko Sabuni, thousands of newly arrived women seek help every year after being assaulted by their Swedish spouses.

http://www.thelocal.se/46638/20130309/#.UTu2rDei2So