Key facts
- Elderly British citizens are facing deportation from Sweden due to Brexit residency rights issues.
- Swedish MP Häkan Svenneling has written to the migration minister to halt these deportations.
- Cases include a 78-year-old widow and a 74-year-old man with dementia and Parkinson's.
- The deportations are reportedly damaging UK-Sweden bilateral relations.
- The UK Foreign Office has raised concerns with the European Commission about Sweden's strict approach to late applications.
A Swedish MP has intervened in cases where elderly British citizens are being ordered to leave Sweden due to issues with their residency rights following Brexit, warning that the situation is damaging relations between the two countries. Häkan Svenneling, an opposition MP, has written to the migration minister, Johan Forssell, to halt the deportations, citing the withdrawal agreement which he states should protect existing residency rights for Britons lawfully in the country before the UK's EU exit.
One prominent case involves Joyce Thomas, a 78-year-old widow who has lived in Sweden for 21 years and was given four weeks to leave after her appeal failed. Thomas moved to Sweden at age 57 with her husband, who died in 2023. She and her friends assert they were told they did not need to complete additional forms after Brexit, but she missed the December 31, 2021 deadline for a late application. Thomas, who is self-sufficient and not a burden on the state, expressed distress over the threat of separation from her family and her husband's grave.
Another case highlighted is that of Horace George Mason, 74, who suffers from dementia and Parkinson's and has also been given four weeks to leave Sweden, despite having lived there for 25 years. His family's legal attempt to argue for his right to stay near family under the European Convention on Human Rights was rejected, with the migration court of appeal ruling that the state's interest in regulated immigration outweighed Mason's interest in remaining.
David Milstead, head of the campaign group Brits in Sweden, stated that the group had raised concerns about Sweden's approach as early as 2020 and that safeguards were untested. He noted that the group could not verify any cases where Sweden accepted reasons for late applications. The UK Foreign Office has also expressed concerns to the European Commission, suggesting Sweden is applying stricter rules to late applications than other EU member states, leading to a disproportionate number of refusals. Milstead is worried that Sweden's broader migration policies might be influencing decisions under the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, making remedial action politically difficult.