The girls are unanimous and tell similar stories. Their fathers live illegally in Israel and can just pay their own applications, while their mothers and siblings remain in Eritrea and live on scarce means. In order for these to be able to afford the application fee for connection interviews and residence permits, they requested SEK 3,000 and SEK 5,250, respectively, from Lund Municipality, which was rejected by the Social Committee which meant that the parents themselves had to pay, or that in any case it should be the Migration Board responsible for the costs.
The social welfare committee's decision was appealed to the Administrative Court in Malmö, which gave the girls the right to assistance, and the Administrative Court of Gothenburg has now determined the administrative court's judgment.
Since the social welfare committee in Lund has limited opportunities to investigate the economy for people in Eritrea, both the Administrative Court and the Administrative Court of Appeal consider that the girls' own information that their parents are unable to pay the applications themselves must be accepted.
Both girls have a permanent residence permit, which is why they are not expected to return to Eritrea. The Administrative Court notes that it is necessary for the girls to be reunited with their mothers and siblings in order to achieve "a reasonable level of living", and consequently they are entitled to financial assistance for this. If the families get a residence permit through affiliation, they can also apply for a grant from the Swedish Migration Board to facilitate the trip to Sweden.