Sweden refuses to grant asylum to Christian convert who risks imprisonment if she returns to Iran

The Swedish migration board is refusing to grant asylum to an Iranian actress who risks imprisonment if she is returned to her country because of her Christian faith.

Aideen Strandsson, who converted from Islam to Christianity after having a vision of Jesus in her dream, has twice been denied asylum in Sweden despite the risk of rape, torture or death if she is returned to Iran.

"They said to me it's your personal life and it's not our problem if you decided to become a Christian, and it's your problem," Strandsson told CBN News.

The Iranian actress is currently waiting for either the possibility of political asylum or deportation. She could be imprisoned if she is deported back to Iran because she has been very public about her new faith.

"It is really dangerous for me and I don't know why immigration doesn't believe that. I'm really in danger," she said.

Sweden's migration board has stated on its website that it will never deport asylum seekers to nations where they face danger, as doing so would be a violation of the Geneva convention on refugees. However, Strandsson's request for asylum has been rejected and has been turned over to border police for eventual deportation.

After Strandsson's story aired on CBN, numerous viewers contacted the migration board to express support for the Iranian actress, but the officials refused to budge. A migration board official reportedly contacted CBN and said, "the fact that your readers write to us will not change the Migration Agency's decision, nor can we change the court's decision."

"Her case has been appealed and processed by the Migration Agency and thereafter by the Swedish courts, which have also decided that she cannot be granted asylum," Ulrika Langels of the Swedish Migration Board wrote.

The network has reportedly received offers for asylum for Strandsson from other nations, but the actress could not leave Sweden because her Iranian passport has been taken away.

While the migration board refuses to grant asylum to the Christian actress, it has been generous in granting asylum to others.

In April, the Swedish Migration Agency granted asylum to Maria Teresa Rivera, a pro-choice activist from El Salvador. The agency officially granted Rivera and her 11-year-old son political asylum, saying it is "clear that this (political) persecution is rooted partly in her sex as female," and "political opinions."

In June, Swedish magazine Expressen reported that the Swedish government gave "protected identities" to hundreds of Islamic State fighters who returned from Iraq and Syria. The publication claimed to have tracked 150 militants who were provided with new identities to keep locals from finding out who they are.