THE DEMONSTRATION OF COMPETENCIES
He has spent his entire teenage life in Sweden and has a steady job with a good salary. Nevertheless, 20-year-old Morteza Amiri risks deportation. “It’s completely absurd,” says his employer to TN.
Kamtech is a consulting company in Örebro that started in 2013 with a focus on sustainability in real estate and buildings. Half the force consists of energy engineers who come from university or college and the other half are contractors with experience from construction projects. Now the company is about to lose one of its 34 employees.
20-year-old Morteza Amiri has had his asylum application rejected and risks deportation to Afghanistan.
– It is completely absurd. This is a co-worker who is a wonderful person and does a great job. We don’t understand anything, says Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom, CEO of Kamtech, to TN.
Morteza Amiri came to Sweden in connection with the refugee crisis in 2015. He was then 13 years old and started in Swedish elementary school and then in high school. In the spring of 2017, the upper secondary school law was adopted, and in 2018 an updated version was introduced where young people could stay in Sweden and study at the upper secondary school, if certain requirements were met. Expressen showed in an investigation that 97 percent of the people who had been rejected under the upper secondary school law were Afghan citizens. One of these was Morteza Amiri.
He tells TN that he felt the oppression in Afghanistan even though he was just a child when family, friends and relatives were persecuted. It is not a society he wants to return to.
– I cannot imagine a life where I see women being abused, where women do not have the right to go to school, where women are not treated as human beings. I have lived my entire teenage life in Sweden. Here I have learned to stand up to injustice and I will stand up to injustice wherever I am in the world, says Morteza Amiri.
The striking thing about Morteza is that he tells his story in almost perfectly grammatical Swedish and he speaks without a break. At Kamtech, he shares a room with Mårten Pojen, who writes on social media about his colleague’s fate: “Now after many years in Sweden, as I see it, Morteza is fully integrated into society and has done everything right…yet the Swedish Migration Agency thinks that he has not must stay. Now maybe we should show off a young man in Swedish society with a job and important skills and who is self-sufficient. Why?”
Morteza Amiri is grateful for the support he receives from colleagues and employers and that the support has made him still able to fight. In just under a month, he will be informed by the Migration Court how it assesses his appeal against the asylum decision.
– I am so stressed right now and feel very bad mentally. I fear that I will be deported in a month, says Morteza Amiri.
Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom states that the company is trying to adapt Morteza’s workload to how the asylum process is going.
– In addition to the fact that we as a company have written all the formalities needed in the legal process, we also have employees who support Morteza socially. We understand that some days he doesn’t feel great, so he has the opportunity to work at home when he feels like it. It must be terrible to have to go with this all the time, he says.
Kamtech got a tip about Morteza after he completed a three-year high school technical education in just two years and offered him an internship. He then remained at the company and is now a certified environmental construction coordinator.
– Morteza was a young guy with a technical background and he had to go through internal training here and quickly became part of the business. Now he has a permanent job just like everyone else. His salary is not at the same level as everyone else’s yet, but he still has a good salary, says Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom.
Morteza Amiri recently moved to his own apartment and is grateful to his Swedish family in Örebro who guided him into Swedish society. In his free time he trains young people and adults in taekwondo (he himself has a black belt), he is a football referee in division 2 and also a youth leader in the church.
– I have seen the freedom here in Sweden and I am rooted here socially with permanent work. The Swedish Migration Agency believes that I can therefore also readjust to Afghan society. But it won’t work. I left at such an early age and was never an adult there. I also really have nowhere to go in Afghanistan. Sweden is my home country, says Morteza Amiri.
The frustration and anger at Kamtech grows as the threat of deportation becomes more and more tangible. Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom’s personal opinion is that there has been a political development in society in recent years that has had consequences for his employees. He believes that the political parties today seem to be fighting to close the Swedish borders.
– I understand that people get pissed off about certain issues related to immigration, but it must not happen like this. It’s completely wrong. We often talk about labor immigration, how important it is and that refugees have to adapt. Here we actually have a person who has adapted perfectly. It is a mystery to me that a person who does everything right should be deported. I’m losing confidence in our system, says Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom to TN.
THE DEMONSTRATION OF COMPETENCIES
The employer believes that it is absurd that Morteza Amiri, who has a permanent employment, risks deportation. Image: Photo: Kicki Nilsson/ICON Photography
He has spent his entire teenage life in Sweden and has a steady job with a good salary. Nevertheless, 20-year-old Morteza Amiri risks deportation. “It’s completely absurd,” says his employer to TN.
Published: 19 Jun 2023, 06:10
Updated: 20 Jun 2023, 06:23
Kamtech is a consulting company in Örebro that started in 2013 with a focus on sustainability in real estate and buildings. Half the force consists of energy engineers who come from university or college and the other half are contractors with experience from construction projects. Now the company is about to lose one of its 34 employees.
20-year-old Morteza Amiri has had his asylum application rejected and risks deportation to Afghanistan.
– It is completely absurd. This is a co-worker who is a wonderful person and does a great job. We don’t understand anything, says Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom, CEO of Kamtech, to TN.
“Have lived my entire teenage life in Sweden”
Morteza Amiri came to Sweden in connection with the refugee crisis in 2015. He was then 13 years old and started in Swedish elementary school and then in high school. In the spring of 2017, the upper secondary school law was adopted, and in 2018 an updated version was introduced where young people could stay in Sweden and study at the upper secondary school, if certain requirements were met. Expressen showed in an investigation that 97 percent of the people who had been rejected under the upper secondary school law were Afghan citizens. One of these was Morteza Amiri.
He tells TN that he felt the oppression in Afghanistan even though he was just a child when family, friends and relatives were persecuted. It is not a society he wants to return to.
– I cannot imagine a life where I see women being abused, where women do not have the right to go to school, where women are not treated as human beings. I have lived my entire teenage life in Sweden. Here I have learned to stand up to injustice and I will stand up to injustice wherever I am in the world, says Morteza Amiri.
Grateful for the support
The striking thing about Morteza is that he tells his story in almost perfectly grammatical Swedish and he speaks without a break. At Kamtech, he shares a room with Mårten Pojen, who writes on social media about his colleague’s fate: “Now after many years in Sweden, as I see it, Morteza is fully integrated into society and has done everything right…yet the Swedish Migration Agency thinks that he has not must stay. Now maybe we should show off a young man in Swedish society with a job and important skills and who is self-sufficient. Why?”
Morteza Amiri is grateful for the support he receives from colleagues and employers and that the support has made him still able to fight. In just under a month, he will be informed by the Migration Court how it assesses his appeal against the asylum decision.
– I am so stressed right now and feel very bad mentally. I fear that I will be deported in a month, says Morteza Amiri.
Morteza Amiri is now a certified environmental construction coordinator. Photo: Kicki Nilsson ICON PHOTOGRAPHY
Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom states that the company is trying to adapt Morteza’s workload to how the asylum process is going.
– In addition to the fact that we as a company have written all the formalities needed in the legal process, we also have employees who support Morteza socially. We understand that some days he doesn’t feel great, so he has the opportunity to work at home when he feels like it. It must be terrible to have to go with this all the time, he says.
Studied high school in two years
Kamtech got a tip about Morteza after he completed a three-year high school technical education in just two years and offered him an internship. He then remained at the company and is now a certified environmental construction coordinator.
– Morteza was a young guy with a technical background and he had to go through internal training here and quickly became part of the business. Now he has a permanent job just like everyone else. His salary is not at the same level as everyone else’s yet, but he still has a good salary, says Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom.
Points to a political development
Morteza Amiri recently moved to his own apartment and is grateful to his Swedish family in Örebro who guided him into Swedish society. In his free time he trains young people and adults in taekwondo (he himself has a black belt), he is a football referee in division 2 and also a youth leader in the church.
– I have seen the freedom here in Sweden and I am rooted here socially with permanent work. The Swedish Migration Agency believes that I can therefore also readjust to Afghan society. But it won’t work. I left at such an early age and was never an adult there. I also really have nowhere to go in Afghanistan. Sweden is my home country, says Morteza Amiri.
Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom is CEO of Kamtech.
The frustration and anger at Kamtech grows as the threat of deportation becomes more and more tangible. Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom’s personal opinion is that there has been a political development in society in recent years that has had consequences for his employees. He believes that the political parties today seem to be fighting to close the Swedish borders.
– I understand that people get pissed off about certain issues related to immigration, but it must not happen like this. It’s completely wrong. We often talk about labor immigration, how important it is and that refugees have to adapt. Here we actually have a person who has adapted perfectly. It is a mystery to me that a person who does everything right should be deported. I’m losing confidence in our system, says Magnus Hjälte-Åkerblom to TN.
Published: 19 Jun 2023, 06:10
Updated: 20 Jun 2023, 06:23