Ill Briton in Sweden hides in caravan park, fearing deportation over Brexit residency error

Mixed · 2Mark Smith, a 60-year-old Briton with heart attacks, strokes, severe headaches and chronically high blood pressure, says he fears deportation from Sweden and has gone into hiding with his wife Petra, who is Swedish. 1 2 Mixed · 2Smith was told by phone to leave Sweden by 17 October as an "alien" without permission to stay, and the couple moved from their home in Falkenberg, in south-west Sweden, to a caravan park. Smith said: "We are in hiding, we daren't go back to our apartment." 1 2 Mixed · 2A court ruled on 12 October that a deportation decision would not be suspended, but gave Smith until 20 October to submit an application for a retrial on the grounds for the decision on indefinite deportation. 1 2

Mixed · 2Smith has lived in Sweden since 2017 and says he asked the tax authorities three times whether he had to do anything because of Brexit and was told no, only that he must wait five years to apply for permanent residency. He had a job, private health insurance and was on the population register. 1 2 Left · 1Sweden is one of 13 of the 27 EU member states that required Britons resident before Brexit to make a formal application to remain; Smith says he was unaware of this. Other countries, such as Spain, only required Britons to declare residence. 1 Mixed · 2Smith's difficulties began in 2021 when, falling ill, he applied for sickness benefit and was told he should have applied for post-Brexit residency. The couple say they applied at the end of 2021, before Sweden's 31 December 2021 deadline, and waited more than two years for a rejection on the grounds that they were not married and so had no family connection. They had lived together since 2017 and married in 2023. 1 2

Mixed · 2The Guardian reports it is unclear whether Smith applied under the specific Brexit residency scheme or through the ordinary immigration route. Campaigners note family connection is not a criterion under free movement rights, so they believe the couple have a strong case. 1 2 Left · 1The couple also say they were not given the full court paperwork from the first appeal against the migration agency's decision, so they appealed to a higher court without knowing the full arguments against them. Petra says a judge has assured her the papers will be posted. 1 Left · 1Petra says Smith has been told he can neither drive nor fly, that she is unsure whether he will last until Christmas, and that deportation would devastate her and her 15-year-old son with special needs, whom Smith co-parents. She called the treatment "racist to British people". The Guardian adds that Smith had a minor heart attack on the Wednesday night before publication. 1

Mixed · 2David Milstead, a volunteer citizens' rights activist with the Brits in Sweden group, says Smith's case is typical, with many Britons told by Swedish authorities they needed to do nothing. He cites 78-year-old widow Joyce Thomas, who is fighting a removal order. He says the case should get the European Commission's urgent attention, as the Commission has said Sweden is not breaking any laws. 1 2 Mixed · 2Sweden has deported 458 Britons, including a man in the country since age 10 and a 65-year-old man married to a Swede, and has issued a removal order to a man with dementia in 24-hour care who has lived there 25 years. The withdrawal agreement requires governments to communicate the rules, consider late applications on reasonable grounds and make "proportionate" decisions, including for vulnerable people. 1 2 Mixed · 2Sweden's migration agency has said there is no evidence it has taken an extreme approach to the withdrawal agreement. The UK Foreign Office says it has raised concerns with the European Commission repeatedly and been told Sweden is not in breach. A spokesperson said it is providing consular support to Smith and urgently raising the case with Swedish authorities and the Commission. 1 2

Mixed · 2The Foreign Office welcomed a statement in August by Sweden's former migration minister Johan Forssell that Sweden would examine "additional measures", and a similar declaration by Magdalena Andersson, who is on track to form the new government. 1 2