A Swedish lawmaker has formally challenged the country's migration minister over the looming deportations of elderly and vulnerable British citizens following the UK's departure from the European Union.
Håkan Svenneling, a Left Party Member of Parliament, submitted a written question to Migration Minister Johan Forssell on August 18. The inquiry was officially passed to Forssell on August 19. Under Swedish parliamentary rules, the minister has two weeks to issue a response, giving him until September 2 to address the matter.
Svenneling's intervention follows recent media coverage by the UK's Guardian newspaper, which highlighted the imminent deportations of 78-year-old former nurse Joyce Thomas and 74-year-old Horace "George" Mason, who currently resides in a dementia care facility in Skövde. These high-profile cases have pushed the issue of post-Brexit deportations back onto the political agenda.
In his submission to parliament, Svenneling asked: "Is the minister prepared to take any initiative to stop the deportations of elderly people who have lived in Sweden for a long time?"
The MP emphasized that the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement was built on the premise that British citizens already legally residing in EU countries would retain their existing residence rights, allowing them to continue living and working as they did before. Svenneling argued that Sweden's application system was designed to safeguard these rights rather than strip long-term elderly residents of their status due to missed deadlines or administrative errors.
"Sweden’s application procedure would ensure and protect these continued rights," Svenneling wrote. "It was not intended to result in older people who had lived in Sweden for decades losing their right to stay due to a missed deadline or shortcomings in an application."
