According to the immigration agency of Sweden, Swedish law says there is no armed conflict in Mogadishu. While the rebels are fighting against government forces backed by the Ethiopian government, they do not control any territory. Because of that technicality, Swedish law declares Mogadishu has no armed conflict.
Ethiopian troops have been fighting against insurgents in Mogadishu. According to a Somali official, about eighty-percent of the country is not in control of the government.
The country of Sweden automatically grants asylum to those from areas in which something like a civil war exists where territorial control is in the hands of the rebellion. According to the Swedish Migration Board, this is not the case in Mogadishu.
Hundreds have been killed in the fighting between Ethiopian forces and the Islamist insurgents. In the previous month, the number of people that fled from the city is in the six-figures.
While the Swedish Migration Board accepts the UN’s description of Somalia as one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, they say that those seeking asylum would need proof that they are personally threatened before being accepted.
There is a high chance that the ruling can be challenged in the courts.