this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026

116 points (96.8% liked)

World News

57623 readers

1463 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
- Post news articles only
- Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
- Title must match the article headline
- Not United States Internal News
- Recent (Past 30 Days)
- Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed.
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF OCTOBER 19 2025
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world

Ask Historians !askhistorians@lemmy.world

Recommendations

How to spot Misinformation and Propaganda

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

Consider including the article’s mediabiasfactcheck.com/ link

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

NewsAutoMod@lemmy.world

Tenthrow@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

lemmyAtom@lemmy.world

jordanlund@lemmy.world

116

British man with dementia told to leave Sweden after losing migration case (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 6 days ago by RubberDuck@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

39 comments fedilink hide all child comments

all 48 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] Corporal_Punishment@feddit.uk 85 points 6 days ago (2 children)

"Illegal overstayer who requires 24/7 care costing thousands of £ each week at taxpayer expense to be deported".

Equivalent Daily Mail headline if this was about the same thing happening here.

That aside, things like this are the harsh reality of brexit. Why would we expect Sweden to keep looking after him if we wouldn't do the same?

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 16 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Why would we expect Sweden to keep looking after him if we wouldn't do the same?

For the same reason that, if person A punched person B's child, we would expect person B not to punch person A's child (though punching person A themself is fair game). Keeping or deporting this man and others like him doesn't affect Britain in any significant way; its only "justification" here is spite* and that's just not enough to uproot people from their home of 25 years. The idea that deporting people like this is somehow "returning the favor" to Britain ignores the human reality of what's going on here. And it's not like Sweden is just doing the obvious here; their rejection (and hence deportation) rate is 7 to 9 times the EU average.

*That's the English-speaking internet's justification; I'm sure the Swedish government with its far-right sympathies doesn't need any justification other than xenophobia.

[–] bad1080@piefed.social 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

uproot people from their home of 25 years

especially when they have dementia

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 5 days ago

Yeah - that's the thing: de facto this guy can't defend himself or even be expected to keep up with paperwork.

The metaphor about punching children is very close to reality in this specific situation.

[–] Corporal_Punishment@feddit.uk 3 points 5 days ago

I agree completely. What the Swedes are doing is cruel and if we did the same thing (I bet we do) I'd be unhappy.

Forget xenophobia, it seems like there's just a wave of cruelty for the sake of cruelty at the moment.

[–] Paddzr@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

If something happens to me, I'd expect the country i fuelled my tax money into to look after me.

You don't just get to decide I'm worthless once i stop contributing if i spent decades being here.

There needs to be automatic "nationalisation" of sorts... and not behind a paywall. Citizenship in uk is £1400-1600 per person. That's a lot for a family to pay, child could be born here and never leave UK for 15 years, they still got to pay it.

[–] Epzillon@lemmy.world 32 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Swede here, alot of our empathic and socialist values have gone downhill for many years but especially the last few years have seen a big rise to the right wing extremist party. I think most people here will find this cruel. "This is not the people we wanted to throw out! It was only The muslims, arabs, jews, colored people, unemployed..." etc etc etc.

Some of the new laws that has been passed with the right wing partiets have been incredibly stupid and enabled shit like this. My favorite is that its now illegal to insult law enforcement. There's this old rhyme we taught kids "polis polis potatisgris" ("police police potato-pig") which with current jurisdiction would be illegal.

So yeah, Sweden is doing great and is absolutely not turning in to yet another unempathic capitalistic americanized shithole. People keep buying the lies and turn against the less fortunate of society instead of actually seeing the problem.

[–] warm@kbin.earth 23 points 6 days ago

These are countries that want to put people from war torn and poor countries in containers and ship them back. There's such a disgusting lack of empathy in the world at the moment, no wonder fascism is back.

[–] gedfromgont@piefed.ca 25 points 6 days ago

Article doesn't really mention since when he had been in full time care

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.

So it took Migrationsverket 4 years to figure that out? They are a shoddy bunch so I would not put it far from them to never explain what exactly they need.

Depending on since when this guy has been in full time care, he probably did fullfill all requirements as before last year it mostly was about living in Sweden for 5+ years and earning a decent enough salary to support yourself.

Bit of a weird case but knowing how terrible Migrationsverket just is I would not throw this out as a case of the dude just "applying too late".

[–] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Horrible, but this is Brexit and voting has consequences. Now go enjoy your £15 chippy tea and a nice swim at the sewage beach.

[–] BananaTrifleViolin@piefed.world 7 points 5 days ago (2 children)

No, this is Swedish immigration policy. It's not Britain's fault that Sweden chooses to be cruel to a person with dementia who has lived in the country for 25 years. It's beyond time EU countries excuse their own bad behaviour with "bEcAuSe bReXit".

[–] Greyghoster@aussie.zone 2 points 4 days ago

When he moved there it was legal, after Brexit the rules changed.

[–] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com -2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

The UK is welcome to rejoin

[–] icelimit@lemmy.ml 0 points 5 days ago

No, I don't think they are. Not without far more Eu-favourable terms.

[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You're directing this to a guy with dementia. That's very silly.

[–] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I'm not, he is clearly a victim of the brexit consequences, as many others are too. This shit could have been avoided and can still be reversed, it's up to the UK voters. Yet plenty still throw their support behind the cunt farage..

[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I misinterpreted this phrase then, thinking you were addressing it to him:

Now go enjoy your £15 chippy tea and a nice swim at the sewage beach.

[–] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 days ago

Fair enough, it could have been written clearer. I wish the poor guy all the best, and the many others suffering from these stupid divisive politics who don't make ot into the news

[–] Fleur_@aussie.zone 2 points 4 days ago

Guilt free since he'll never remember

[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Does Sweden have some entity to overrule that? The guy isn't even there mentally. It sounds needlessly cruel and shameful.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 4 points 5 days ago

Does Sweden have some entity to overrule that?

I mean the courts, but it seems they've exhausted all domestic legal channels and are now forced to rely on the EU.

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).

[–] inari@piefed.zip 4 points 6 days ago

Man, this has got to be absolutely awful for this family

[+] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io -10 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Is it just that Europe is more active at this time than America or has the Fediverse been always been this xenophobic? I can't believe I'm saying this, but Americans please help. That said, seeing the comment section as it is right now does wonders to explain the rise of the far-right.

[–] CTDummy@piefed.social 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Americans please help.

Lol, yeah in America you’d get a complimentary bullet and assault alongside tens of thousands of dollars in associated medical costs with your deportation. They’re so good about it you don’t even need to be a non-citizen/resident for ICE to deport you or murder you in broad daylight.

[–] Polisheocket@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 days ago

Hundreds of thousands in medical costs

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 points 6 days ago

I mean America is a far-right hellhole at the moment, but Americans clearly don't like that, and don't like it with quite a bit more principle than Europeans don't like their far-right clowns if the Fediverse is any indication (quite a big if to be fair, but one that seems to correspond to the facts). In any case, Fediverse Americans tend to be less willing to accept thinly veiled rightwing rhetoric than Fediverse Europeans.

[+] yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com -8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

[deleted]

[–] Waterpumpee@lemmus.org 18 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Borders contain a social system. Like one country decides to fund healthcare (more) and the other doesn't. Would be unfair and unsustainable if people who fall sick are now suddendly migrating to a healthcare system they didnt fund. That's why EU open borders require future member states to implement the similar ruleset first.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

It’s not complicated.

It's not complicated; it's just ghoulish and inhumane. Why should the British voting public's opinions affect the life of this person who hasn't lived in Britain for decades? This isn't even that novel of an idea; clearly essentially all EU countries other than Sweden understand this, hence Sweden being the only EU country with a two-digit percentage Brexit deportation rate. I mean hell, if Bulgaria can only deport 5 people out of 16 thousand then it's clearly not "not complicated."

[+] yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

So keeping him in Sweden requires an individual exception.

I won't address the value problem of "then why not give that exception." Instead I'll say: No it doesn't; the Brexit withdrawal agreement has provisions specifically for British people living in the EU at the time of implementation. This is factually wrong, as seen by the behavior of literally every other EU member state.

There’s no reason to grant someone who in 20 years never applied for Swedish citizenship an exception.

Setting aside the value problem of "the right to live in one's home isn't something to be granted," see above. Again this isn't an exception; it's the rule as set in the withdrawal agreement. Also this is your third time moving the goalposts and I'd really rather you commit to one line of argument or admit that you're defending the indefensible.

[+] yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

First, that has nothing to do with anything I said. Second, I somehow doubt applying for citizenship would've gone better than applying for residency.

[+] yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I see you moving the goalposts there, but fine. In that case: Sweden's "right" to autonomy (countries don't have rights; people do, in this case the right to self-determination) doesn't override the rights of people living in Sweden. Your argument can be used to justify literally anything any government does, but I rather doubt you'd justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine via Russia's "right" (see above) to autonomy.