AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF
Application No. 14404/88
by Mekonen TEKESTE
against Sweden
The European Commission of Human Rights sitting in private
on 10 March 1989, the following members being present:
MM. C.A. NØRGAARD, President
J.A. FROWEIN
S. TRECHSEL
F. ERMACORA
G. SPERDUTI
E. BUSUTTIL
G. JÖRUNDSSON
A. WEITZEL
J.-C. SOYER
H.G. SCHERMERS
H. DANELIUS
G. BATLINER
J. CAMPINOS
H. VANDENBERGHE
Mrs. G.H. THUNE
Sir Basil HALL
MM. F. MARTINEZ
C.L. ROZAKIS
Mrs. J. LIDDY
Mr. L. LOUCAIDES
Mr. H.C. KRÜGER, Secretary to the Commission
Having regard to Article 25 of the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
Having regard to the application introduced on 28 October 1988
by Mekonen Tekeste against Sweden and registered on 28 November 1988
under file No. 14404/88;
Having regard to the report provided for in Rule 40 of the
Rules of Procedure of the Commission;
Having deliberated;
Decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be
summarised as follows.
The applicant is a Swedish citizen, born in 1956. He is
resident at Sundbyberg, Sweden. He is a refugee from Eritrea,
Ethiopia. Before the Commission he is represented by Mr. Jan
Axelsson, a lawyer practising in Stockholm.
On 31 March 1988 the applicant married an Ethiopian citizen in
Khartoum, Sudan. The applicant's wife made a request for a visa to
join her husband in Sweden and for a residence and a labour permit.
Her request was rejected by the Swedish Immigration Board (statens
invandrarverk) on 6 September 1988. No appeal lay against the
Board's decision. The applicant's wife was living under insecure
conditions as a refugee in Sudan. She had been taken seriously ill.
By letter of 19 January 1989 the applicant's representative
informed the Commission that the applicant's wife had been allowed to
join her husband in Sweden and that the applicant wished to withdraw
his application.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complained that it was not possible for him and
his wife to settle in Sudan and that, as political refugees, they could
not go back to their native country, Ethiopia. He maintained that the
only country where it would be feasible for them to live together was
Sweden. He invoked Articles 8 and 12 of the Convention.
The applicant also complained that he had no remedy against
the decision of the Swedish Immigration Board refusing his wife's
request for a residence and a labour permit. He invoked Article 13 of
the Convention.
REASONS FOR THE DECISION
The Commission notes that the applicant's wife has been
allowed to join her husband in Sweden and that the applicant has
withdrawn his application. It finds that there are no reasons of a
general character affecting the observance of the Convention which
require a further examination of the application.
For these reasons, the Commission
DECIDES TO STRIKE THE APPLICATION OFF ITS LIST OF CASES
Secretary to the Commission President of the Commission
(H. C. KRÜGER) (C. A. NØRGAARD)