A Christian convert in Sweden says she is having "nightmares every night" that she will be deported back to Iran, where she says she faces the risk of imprisonment.
Aideen Strandsson, an Iranian actress who converted to Christianity after having a dream about Jesus, is currently awaiting an appeal hearing after her asylum application was rejected by the Swedish government nearly a year ago.
CBN News reported back in November, that Strandsson's case has been passed on to the Swedish border police for eventual deportation. She has been prevented from taking a job after the government rejected her application for a temporary employment permit.
The Christian convert said that she suspects that the government is deliberately putting off her case.
"I know some people who sent their requests for appeal at the same time as I did, about one year ago. They've received an answer to their appeal, but there is no answer for me yet. I don't think they even care if I'm alive or not," she told World Watch Monitor.
"I pretend it's OK, because I don't want to make my mum, or other people who love me, sad. I show that I'm a strong woman. But I cry when I'm alone with Jesus in church. I ask Jesus, why am I here?" she went on to say.
Strandsson has previously said that the officials at the Swedish Migratory Board rejected her asylum bid because they did not believe that her life would be in danger if she was deported back 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," she claimed at the time.
Her lawyer, Gabriel Donner, said that the officials did not believe that Strandsson was a true Christian because her knowledge of Christianity was apparently insufficient.
The Swedish migratory board has drawn criticism from churches for including questions such as "Can you explain the Trinity?" to assess the beliefs of asylum seekers, while ignoring their personal experiences.
Donner, who has been involved in 1,000 asylum cases, expressed concerns for Strandsson's safety if she is incarcerated in an Iranian prison facility, where he says torture and rape are common.
The watchdog group Open Doors has ranked Iran in the 2018 World Watch List as the 10th worst nation in the world for persecution of Christians. Under Iranian law, those who leave Islam for another religion can be punished by death.
Strandsson, who was publicly baptized after arriving in Sweden in 2014, has already received threats following her conversion to Christianity, according to CBN News.
The Hungarian government has reportedly offered to grant her asylum, but she still cannot leave Sweden because her passport has been confiscated.
