Iceland revokes international protection for man convicted of violence against daughters

Iceland’s Directorate of Immigration has revoked the international protection status of a man convicted of severe violence against his four young daughters. Following this decision, he has been denied a residence permit and ordered to leave the country with a ten-year ban on re-entry.

The man has been in continuous custody and serving a sentence since October 2021, having received an 18-month prison sentence for repeatedly committing serious acts of violence against his daughters. He was found guilty of hitting them with various objects, causing physical harm, and subjecting them to severe psychological abuse, including intimidation and derogatory remarks.

The children, aged two, nine, ten, and eleven at the time of the judgment, were deemed to have lived under ongoing oppression and fear within their home environment. The man was also convicted during the investigation for threatening and harassing his two oldest daughters.

In November 2022, an appellate court increased his sentence to two years in prison without parole and confirmed that he was guilty of domestic violence against the children’s mother. The mother received a six-month suspended sentence for her involvement in physical abuse toward three of the girls, although it was established that she, herself, was a victim of her husband’s violence. The couple divorced in 2020.

Since finishing his sentence in July, this man was re-arrested for being illegally present in the country, posing a significant threat to public safety and especially to his daughters. Authorities are now preparing for his deportation back to his home country.