Two days after reporting on the case of Joyce Thomas, a 78-year-old British widow issued with a deportation order from in Sweden, The Guardian has reported on yet another case of an elderly British person being told to leave their home in Sweden.
Horace Mason (known as George) is 74 years old, has dementia, and is in full-time care. In July, a Swedish court ruled that the government's push to reduce immigration overrode the needs of a vulnerable elderly man in care, according to The Guardian.
“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," the paper quoted the Migration Court of Appeal as ruling.
Horace Mason's son Carl, the Guardian reported, was told that his father had until August 20th to leave Sweden, his home of 26 years.
“It made me feel sick," the Guardian reported Carl saying. "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?’"
According to The Guardian, an application for a residence permit for Horace Mason was made in December 2021 but was rejected last autumn by the Swedish Migration Agency on the grounds “he had not submitted documents demonstrating that he met the requirements for the right of residence."
Mason's family has since, the Guardian reports, appealed the deportation decision through multiple legal avenues, but to no avail.
“He is elderly and extremely vulnerable," The Guardian reports Mason's son Carl as saying. "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."
“It’s inhumane,” Carl continued.
According to the Guardian report, the UK government is aware of the case and are in contact with Swedish authorities.
The Guardian also spoke with David Milstead, part of a grassroots campaign group called British in Sweden, who told the paper that Sweden's harsh approach is unique in the EU.
“The Swedish authorities resemble the proud parent at a military parade insisting that everyone except their own child is out of step," The Guardian quoted Milstead saying. "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."
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