A British man, identified as Charles, was detained by police in Stockholm on Tuesday and informed he would be held at a detention centre and deported within the next two weeks. His Swedish wife, Lily, a lawyer, has pleaded with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene in the case.
Charles and Lily were summoned to a police station at 10am on Tuesday. Lily stated that she was told to retrieve her husband's passport despite her protests that a court process appealing the deportation order was underway.
Charles, a retired business consultant, applied to remain in Sweden before the Brexit deadline. His application was rejected in 2022, and the family has since pursued multiple appeals. Lily said the couple received a text asking them to attend their local police station on 1 September, where Charles was later detained.
The case occurs amid controversy over Sweden's implementation of the withdrawal agreement. The UK government has formally raised concerns through the EU-UK specialised committee regarding Sweden's high rate of rejecting late applications for post-Brexit residency. Statistics from the 2024 European Commission annual report indicate that 27.5% of the 14,233 post-Brexit residency applications decided in Sweden have been refused, a rate three times higher than any other member state.