In his written answer, Migration Minister Johan Forssell said that the Migration Agency had carried out an analysis of its application of the UK Withdrawal Agreement and come to the conclusion that it had applied the law fairly and correctly.
"The Migration Agency has followed up on the application of the Withdrawal Agreement and the assessment is that Sweden has fulfilled its commitments. This assessment is shared by the Commission," Forssell wrote.
The government, he added, would "continue to safeguard the correct implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement".
Forssell's statement came in response to a written question from Left Party MP Håkan Svenneling, who asked whether the government would "take any initiative to stop the deportations of elderly people who have lived in Sweden for a long time?"
Svenneling pointed to the media coverage of the imminent deportations of Joyce Thomas, a 78-year-old former nurse, and Horace "George" Mason, a 74-year-old man living in a dementia home in Skövde.
In his written question, Svenneling noted that Sweden had rejected a considerably larger share of British citizens who applied for post-Brexit residency than any other EU country, a result he argued was not in the spirit of the UK Withdrawal Agreement.
In his response, Forssell acknowledged that there had been "some cases getting attention in the media of British citizens who have lived in Sweden but not received residency rights after the UK left the EU", but he did not acknowledge that this indicated anything wrong in Sweden's handling of Brexit.
"British citizens in Sweden have received support during the process. The Migration Agency has provided information in many ways, including information directed at authorities that care for or represent British citizens," he explained.
"Incomplete applications have been followed up by the Migration Agency with requests for completions, and late applications have been accepted in several cases when reasonable grounds were deemed to exist."
"All applicants have had the opportunity to have a representative. All of the Swedish Migration Agency's decisions have been able to be appealed to court. Those who have not met the requirements have also been able to apply for a residence permit on other grounds, for example by citing family ties."
"The relationship with the UK is very important to Sweden and the government will continue to safeguard the correct implementation of the withdrawal agreement," he wrote. "As part of this, the government is investigating whether further measures can be taken to facilitate the process going forward."
David Milstead, a Stockholm university physicist who campaigns for the rights of British people in Sweden, said he had not expected any more from Forssell.
"The government was not going to criticise a state authority or the Swedish courts," he said.
"In the UK, 250,000 EU citizens missed the deadline and were granted status. Other EU countries have followed a similar approach. Sweden is an outlier in its interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement. This requires it to be tested at EU level."
"The government's statement leaves some room for changes. What is happening here needs to be urgently fixed."
Comments (2)