Sweden: 458 Britons deported or forcibly removed post-Brexit

Sweden has confirmed that 458 British citizens have been deported or forcibly removed by police since Brexit.

It is the first time the scale of the deportations of citizens who failed to secure residency in Sweden post-Brexit has been made public, and it comes amid mounting criticism of the approach taken toward Britons who had made the country their home before Brexit.

Some have been ordered to leave after more than 25 years in the country. Even vulnerable elderly people with dementia have been affected. One adult was deported despite having lived in Sweden since the age of 10.

Susanna Fonsell, a unit manager and legal expert at the Swedish Migration Agency, told Sveriges Radio: "A rejected application does not necessarily result in deportation. According to the agency's statistics, the rejection of an application for residence status has been accompanied by a deportation decision in only approximately 458 cases."

The Migrationsverket, the Swedish government agency responsible for migration, confirmed to CuriosityNews that 458 British citizens have been deported since Brexit.

David Milstead, who heads the 9,000-strong activist group Brits in Sweden, said it was important for Sweden to release full and transparent figures on removals and deportations and the circumstances surrounding them.

"We need to understand exactly what the 458 represents. Does it capture people who gave up and left when they realised their withdrawal agreement application was unlikely to succeed? Does it include people who were refused withdrawal agreement status, subsequently obtained a permit under national law and were only later ordered to leave? It certainly does not capture people who are currently managing to remain in Sweden on temporary permits, with little certainty about their long-term future."

He added the figures illustrate a "broader problem," with data released piecemeal and sometimes opaquely.

The last available data shows there were 14,233 applications for post-Brexit residency, including family members joining British citizens after the deadline, by 2024. Of those, just under 4,000 were rejected, a refusal rate three times higher than any other member state and considerably higher than the EU average of between 3% and 4%, according to FCDO analysis.

Deportations are still ongoing. This week, the Swedish wife of a former business director from Cambridge said her husband was detained in Stockholm ahead of a forced removal.

His wife, Lily, said they have fought to overturn the decision for five years and feel they have been "hunted" because they live together as husband and wife.

Earlier this week, CuriosityNews reported on a 34-year-old British man, John Sellers, who had lived in Sweden since age 10 and was deported, separating him from his wife in Gothenburg. His wife, Caroline, said people needed to know how Brexit has "crushed families."

A 78-year-old British widow, Joyce Thomas, has been told to leave the country before next Wednesday. Friends are attempting to secure an injunction and have appealed to the European Commission for help. If she fails to comply, she could face forced deportation, a re-entry ban, and registration on a watchlist preventing entry into any Schengen country as long as the ban remains in effect.

The Swedish Migration Agency told CuriosityNews it had "no indication that Sweden has in any way interpreted the withdrawal agreement in an extreme manner or differently from other member states."

Late applications for post-Brexit residency are allowed under the withdrawal agreement, but applicants must show "reasonable grounds" for missing the deadline. The UK Foreign Office has said that in practice, late applicants in Sweden "are not likely to have their reasonable grounds accepted."

Migration minister Johan Forssell said the government had followed the rules but was willing to examine the matter. "The relationship with the UK is very important to Sweden," he said.

An FCDO spokesperson said: "We continue to raise this with the Swedish authorities and welcome their statement that they will look at this issue."

Niels Paarup-Petersen, migration spokesperson for Sweden's opposition Centre Party, said the government needed to go much further.