Dementia-stricken British man given 10 days to leave Sweden after losing Brexit appeal

A 74-year-old British man who has been living in Sweden for 25 years who needs round-the-clock care for dementia has been given 10 days to leave the country after he lost a post-Brexit migration court case.

The deportation order comes after a Swedish court ruling in July that the government’s drive to reduce immigration trumped the needs of a man in full-time care.

“The state’s interest in regulated immigration outweighs Horace Mason’s interest in continuing to reside” in Sweden, the migrations court of appeals ruled in July.

The Masons’ family trauma echoes that of Joyce Thomas, a 78-year-old widow who the Guardian revealed on Monday was also facing deportation because of late Brexit paperwork despite living in Sweden for 21 years.

The son of Horace Mason (known as George) was told by the British embassy on Friday the authorities had given him until 20 August.

“It made me feel sick. We’ve been trying to keep as much information from him as possibly because with the illness he is confused and worried.

“But I had to tell him on Friday what had happened and there was just a thousand questions: ‘What is going to happen? Are the police going to come and take me away. Are they going to kick the door down?’

“I had dinner with him again today [Monday] and it was the same: ‘What is going to happen now? Where am I going to go in England? Are they going to arrest me and put me in prison.

“It’s inhumane,” his son Carl said.

The UK government said it was aware of the case.

“We are supporting Mr Mason and his family and are in contact with the Swedish authorities about his case.”

Mason’s case comes two years after another Briton, Kathleen Poole, also suffering dementia was threatened with deportation before she died in a care home.

Mason moved to Sweden from Hinckley in Leicestershire to be close to his son and grandchildren around the year 2000.

“He is elderly and extremely vulnerable. He has advanced vascular dementia and vascular parkinsonism, together with other serious health problems. He is immobile, requires help with virtually every aspect of daily life and is in full-time residential dementia care in Sweden. He is not capable of simply travelling to Britain and starting a new life independently,” said Carl.

When his father’s mental capacity deteriorated, a court appointed a trustee who would have power of attorney over his affairs.

“That is when all the problems started,” said Carl.

An application for a residence permit was made in December 2021 but was rejected last November by the Swedish migration agency on the grounds “he had not submitted documents demonstrating that he met the requirements for the right of residence” and would have to leave the country.

An appeal against this decision was also rejected. The family then appealed to the migration court of appeals under the Aliens Act (Chapter 5, Section 6), which permits foreign nationals residence under “particularly distressing circumstances”.

The family submitted new medical evidence including his “extensive need for continuous supervision and round-the-clock care” and also argued their father had rights under article 8 of the European convention on human rights.

On 23 July, the court ruled that the deportation could stand. It assessed that dementia care existed in the UK, that Mason had a daughter in the UK, although the court heard private medical evidence that she was unable to look after her father as Carl does.

“Upon balancing the state’s interest in regulated immigration against what has emerged regarding Horace Mason’s private life and his adaptation to Sweden, the migration court concludes, on balance, that his deportation appears proportionate in relation to article 8.”

Carl, who is now running out of time to keep his father living in Sweden, said: “I just can’t see the reasoning behind why they think that deporting a vulnerable citizen is in anybody’s benefit. It’s just beyond me.”

Carl is trying to mount a further challenge with the European court of human rights in Strasbourg and has launched a GoFundMe page Stötta George to cover his estimated costs of 50,000 kronor (£3,900).

David Milstead, of the grassroots campaign group British in Sweden, has spent years drawing attention to the plight of some British nationals in Sweden before Brexit.

He says the hardline approach of the Swedish migration agency is out of kilter with the rest of the EU.

Of the 14,233 applications made by the end of 2024 to remain in Sweden, 27.5% (3,918) of applications have been refused, three times higher than any other member state and considerably higher than the EU average of between 3% and 4%.

Milstead said: “The Swedish authorities resemble the proud parent at a military parade insisting that everyone except their own child is out of step.

“For applications made both on time and after the deadline, Sweden’s approach to the withdrawal agreement ignores key protections in that treaty and is highly restrictive compared with other countries. As a consequence, lives are still being ruined.”