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Directorate Of Immigration Employee Shares Clients’ Information
On December 20, Gímaldið media reported that a Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) employee had breached confidentiality when sharing personally identifiable information of its clients. According to Gímaldið, the employee shared the clients’ names on an Instagram close friends list, photographing handwritten task…
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Disabled Pregnant Woman To Be Deported
Icelandic authorities are set to deport a pregnant woman who uses a wheelchair, in defiance of her doctor’s recommendations, RÚV reports. The woman, a Russian citizen, is in her third trimester of a high-risk pregnancy and expects twins. According to RÚV, the…
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Infirm Child To Be Deported From Iceland
The Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) has denied an appeal to postpone the deportation of a Venezuelan family, despite a scheduled surgery for a three-year old girl, RÚV reports. The child suffers from developmental dysplasia of the hip, and underwent a complex surgery…
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The Many-Splendored Joys Of A Trip To ÚTL
The couches give way till you can feel the lumps underneath. The long queues are managed by a workforce too few in number and silently weeping. You’ve gotten to relax here for a few hours now. You love it here. You can…
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Human Trafficking Survivors Deported From Iceland
On May 13, Icelandic authorities deported four asylum applicants to Nigeria via Germany. The people, whose applications were denied by the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL), have lived in Iceland for four to six years. Three of the deportees, all Nigerian women, are…
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Directorate Of Immigration Denies Venezuelans Asylum In Landmark Ruling
On Wednesday, October 4, the Directorate of Immigration’s court of appeals ruled in three cases concerning Venezuelan refugees in Iceland, denying their application for asylum. The rulings are expected to set a precedent in the cases of the Venezuelan refugees who applied…
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Changes To Law On Foreigners In The Works, Stricter Measures For Asylum Seekers Proposed
A draft of a bill from the Ministry of Justice proposing a number of changes to the Law On Foreigners expands police powers, evokes compulsory medical procedures, and gives veto rights to the chair and vice chair of the Immigration Appeals Board,…
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Immigration Offers Money To Asylum Seekers To Leave Country; Offer Declined
The Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) invited a group of asylum seekers to a meeting at their offices in Hafnarfjörður yesterday morning and offered to pay them money to return to their home countries, Vísir reports. Kurds who were present at the meeting…
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Cleaning House: ÚTL, Evictions and Deportations to Greece
Last spring, the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) made an executive decision that would thrust the institution into the spotlight of criticism that extended from the general public and into the halls of Parliament: evicting asylum seekers from their housing, denying them even…
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Immigration Appeals Board Deems Refugee Evictions Unlawful
A lawyer for one of the 18 refugees who have recently been evicted from asylum seeker housing by the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) and denied services such as food and medical care has announced that the Immigration Appeals Board (KNÚ) has deemed…
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Red Cross Criticises Refugee Treatment; Immigration Directorate Says Their Hands Are Tied
In light of recent reports on the treatment of refugees in Iceland, the Red Cross has offered harsh criticisms of the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) and contends that some of their practices may even be illegal. For their part, ÚTL says they…
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Evicted Refugees Now Also Reportedly Being Denied Medical Care
In the wake of recent news that the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL) is evicting Palestinian asylum seekers from refugee centres and denying them their food stipend for refusing to take a pre-deportation COVID screening, it is now being reported that 14 refugees…
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COVID-19 In Iceland: Two Active Cases, State Of Emergency Lifts On Monday
The national emergency rating will be lowered on Monday, May 25th as Iceland enters the next phase of relaxing COVID-19 measures. No new cases were detected yesterday and one patient recovered, meaning there are currently two active infections in the country. Chief…
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Dental Age Tests for Asylum Seekers: Immigration Authorities Still Committed
The Directorate of Immigration (UTL) has advertised on its website for a new partner to assist officials in their efforts to determine the age of asylum-seeking applicants through analysis of their teeth. This follows yesterday’s announcement that the University of Iceland will…
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Hunger-Striking Iranian Asylum Seeker Deported Without Notice, Lawyer Never Notified
Amin Ghayszadeh, an asylum seeker from Iran who had been on a hunger strike since August 23rd, was suddenly arrested Sunday evening and deported yesterday, Fréttablaðið reports, without even his lawyer being alerted to the arrest. As reported, Amin left Iran five…
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Iranian Asylum Seeker On Hunger Strike, Faces Deportation To Greece
Amin Ghayszadeh is on his 13th day of his hunger strike, and faces deportation to Greece, a country often cited as one of the worst for refugees. A petition is currently being circulated, imploring immigration authorities to reconsider the deportation decision. Amin…
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Legal Fund Launched For Child, Born In Iceland, Who Faces Deportation
A refugee family is fighting to stay in Iceland, as immigration authorities have slated their two-year-old child for deportation, despite being born in Iceland. Appealing their case will mean taking the matter to court, and so a legal fund has been started…
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District Court Upholds Deporting Child Born In Iceland, Family Says They Will Appeal
Reykjavík District Court confirmed a ruling today that would deport a 20-month-old child born in Iceland, despite both international and Icelandic laws that expressly forbid this practice. The family of the child told Grapevine that they will appeal this decision. The case…
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VIDEO: Satirical Christmas Card (Not Actually) From Immigration Directorate Mailed Out
Numerous people, including reporters at Grapevine, has received a satirical Christmas card that sharply criticises the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL). Now, that card has been given a dramatic reading on a video, which also translates the card’s text to English. The card…
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“I Thought The Icelandic Government Wouldn’t Break Its Own Laws”
A Hazara youth, Abbas Ali, whose asylum case has sat in the system in Iceland for one year and three weeks, has been informed that he will be deported on the basis of the Dublin Regulation, despite the fact that by law,…
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Petition Going To Protest Deportation
A petition is going protesting the impending deportation of asylum seeker Sid Ahmed Haddouche and his family. Sid is a former police officer from Remchi, an Algerian bordertown close to Morocco. In 2013, Sid and his colleague arrested a member of AIS…
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Eze Okafor’s Fate Decided Next Month
An asylum seeker from Nigeria, who sought asylum in Iceland but was subsequently deported to Sweden, has learned that the Directorate of Immigration (UTL) will make a formal decision on his case in January, MBL reports. As reported, Eze came to Iceland…
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Why Does This Keep Happening? A Closer Look At The Directorate Of Immigration
The Grapevine has reported on many asylum seeker deportation stories over the years. We’ve reported on how their treatment at the hands of the Directorate of Immigration (UTL) has often been in violation of international and domestic law, and how the Directorate…