The spouse of a British citizen who was apprehended by authorities in Stockholm on Tuesday, in anticipation of a potential deportation, has urged Andy Burnham to address the ongoing Brexit crisis affecting numerous British nationals residing in Sweden.
Charles, who prefers to remain partially anonymous, and his Swedish partner, Lily, received a summons to the police station at 10 AM on Tuesday. There, Charles was informed that he would be taken to a detention facility and deported within a fortnight.
Lily, a legal professional, was instructed to return home to retrieve her husband’s passport, despite her objections regarding the ongoing court proceedings that were contesting the deportation order.
“I am filled with shame,” Lily expressed, requesting that their last name not be disclosed. “To me, Britain symbolizes freedom for individuals, yet witnessing a British man in detention simply because he wishes to live with his wife in his own home feels profoundly unjust. What kind of society are we in? Is this what we call a civilized nation? They disregard human rights. This is Europe, yet Sweden resembles a country like Afghanistan,” she asserted.
Lily met Charles in the UK after commencing her law studies in London in 2010. She returned to Sweden in 2015, and Charles joined her in 2017, three years prior to Brexit.
A former business consultant now in retirement, Charles submitted an application to remain in Sweden before the Brexit application deadline. His request was denied two years later in 2022, prompting the family to contest the deportation through “six or seven” appeals, according to Lily. “The Migration Agency has pursued us for five years,” she stated.
During the summer, the couple received a message instructing them to visit their local police station on September 1. “They indicated they needed to speak with us but did not mention anything about deportation or the need to bring passports. When we arrived, they requested to speak with Charles privately. After three hours, they informed me that he would be taken to a detention center and deported,” Lily recounted.
Despite her insistence that the case was still under judicial review, the authorities proceeded with the deportation, Lily reported. She has since called upon Andy Burnham, the UK Prime Minister, to take action.
Charles’s situation has ignited a debate regarding Sweden’s handling of the withdrawal agreement, which was designed to safeguard the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens living in Europe prior to Brexit.
Recent deportation threats have also affected individuals such as 78-year-old British widow Joyce Thomas, who has lived in Sweden for 21 years, and George Mason, a 74-year-old in dementia care who has resided in the country for 24 years. Additionally, a 34-year-old man shared this week that he was deported from Sweden in January, despite having lived in the country since he was 10 and being married to a Swedish woman in Gothenburg.
Two years ago, another British citizen, Kathleen Poole, faced deportation threats after failing to submit financial documentation to the Migration Agency while undergoing full-time dementia care.
The Swedish migration minister has defended the nation’s execution of the withdrawal agreement, asserting that the Migration Agency is adhering to regulations and has granted residency permits to Britons who had “reasonable grounds” for late applications.
However, the UK government has formally raised concerns through the EU-UK specialized committee regarding the significant number of rejected late applications for post-Brexit residency.
Sweden, alongside 12 other EU nations, opted for a constitutive system requiring citizens to formally apply to extend their residency rights after Brexit. In contrast, countries like Spain adopted a declaratory system that merely required Britons to register their presence.
Lily noted that she and Charles followed the proper procedures when applying for residency and have been battling the system ever since.
Recent statistics from the 2024 European Commission annual report indicate that 14,233 applications for post-Brexit residency have been addressed in Sweden. Analysis by the UK government reveals that 27.5% (3,918) of these applications have been denied, resulting in a refusal rate three times higher than any other EU member state and significantly above the EU average of 3 to 4%.
Sources have remarked that this accounts for 12% of all refusals across EU member states, despite UK nationals in Sweden making up only 1.55% of the total population of beneficiaries under the withdrawal agreement in EU countries.
Denmark encountered a similar issue two years prior but enacted legislation to provide British nationals with an additional opportunity to submit residency applications.
