Teen refugee can remain in Sweden

A 15-year-old boy who sewed his mouth shut when he initially was denied residency in Sweden can remain, Swedish officials decided. The boy, originally from Afghanistan and who fled from Italy to Sweden, is considered mentally unstable and will receive psychiatric treatment, the officials said. The decision to allow him to remain in Sweden is at odds with a European Union rule that states illegal immigrants must be deported to the first EU country they entered. The boy, known as Ali, was admitted to a child and youth psychiatry facility in April soon after his Swedish residency application was denied. "When we got the rejection, they phoned us from his accommodation. Then he had sewed up his mouth," Anette Cromwell, who represents the teen, told Sveriges Radio. "It was a terrible, symbolic action." The teen was arrested last week by Swedish border police, but was found mentally unstable, so he was returned to a psychiatric facility, the Swedish news agency TT reported. The Migration Board then contacted border police about reopening Ali's case.