Sweden Delays Deporting Refugees To Croatia

Under fire from human rights groups, Sweden on Thursday suspended the deportation of some 5,000 refugees from the Bosnian war.

Swedish charities had defied the deportation order, hiding hundreds of refugees in homes and churches and inflaming the nation’s debate over immigration policy.

The Swedish government, under pressure to stem a flood of asylum-seekers, had claimed the refugees would be safe back in Croatia. But many Swedes felt a moral obligation to protect the people who had fled the fighting last year.

On Thursday, the government suspended the deportations until it hears more from a Swedish delegation now touring Croatia.

In Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, U.N. refugee spokesman Jan Bolling told the Swedish news agency TT that Sweden should wait “a few months” before sending people back into an uncertain situation in both Croatia and Bosnia.