An elderly British woman with Alzheimer’swho cannot walk or talk should be snatched from her loved ones and evicted Sweden as she can’t get an up-to-date passport in a move that has been labeled “cruel” and “deeply shocking.”
Widow Kathleen Poole, 74, moved to Sweden from Macclesfield, Cheshire, 18 years ago to be close to her son Wayne, his Swedish wife Angelica and their four children.
But the bedridden pensioner developed dementia eleven years ago and has been living in a care home for ten years. She is now so incapacitated by the degenerative disease that she cannot feed herself or go to the bathroom without assistance.
Now the helpless grandmother faces deportation after her family’s request to stay is rejected. Mrs Poole’s loved ones had told authorities she did not have a passport because she was too ill to travel and did not need one.
However, their pleas seem to fall on deaf ears. Officials at the British Embassy in Stockholm told them on Friday that Swedish police had been in touch to find a care home in the UK for Ms Poole.
Widow Kathleen Poole, 74, (centre) moved from Macclesfield to Sweden 18 years ago to be close to her son Wayne (right), his Swedish wife Angelica (left) and their four children
Her family says they have not updated her passport because she is bedridden and unable to travel. Mrs Poole is pictured in her bed in her care home in Sweden
“It is impossible to say how long it will take, but once we have found a care home that is willing to take your mother in, the police will give us a travel date and we will have to issue an emergency passport,” an official from the agency said. embassy. the Pooles, The protector reported.
Ms Poole’s son and daughter-in-law labeled the treatment as inhumane, with Angelica saying her 11-year-old son now feared police would snatch his grandmother.
“It’s the kids who suffer. They are not the ones dealing with their anxiety and nightmares,” she said.
Campaigners have lashed out at the Swedish authorities’ decision, with Labor MP Hilary Benn calling the move “very shocking”.
While Councilor Laura Jeuda, who represents Macclesfield South on Cheshire East Council, also strikes.
She told MailOnline: “I find it shocking. It’s very cruel… I’m really surprised about Sweden. We know them because they are very caring – their social care is really good.
“It’s just bizarre that they would pick a woman that age who has the additional complication of dementia.
“We don’t know what will happen to that poor woman when she’s snatched from her family and taken to a strange county she won’t remember.”
In happier times: Mrs Poole hugs one of her grandchildren. She is now being torn from her family and deported to the UK, where she has not lived for 18 years
‘Cruel’ and ‘deeply shocking’: Labor MP Hilary Benn (left) and councilor Laura Jeuda, who represents Macclesfield South on the Cheshire East Council, have lashed out at Sweden’s move to deport Ms Poole, formerly of Macclesfield
Ms Poole developed dementia 11 years ago and has been in a care home for 10 years. She is now so incapacitated by the degenerative disease that she cannot feed herself or go to the bathroom without assistance
The Labor councilor called on Whitehall to intervene and oppose the Swedish authorities’ decision.
Cllr Jeuda labeled the fiasco as ‘another downside of Brexit’, adding: ‘We need to hear something from the government about this, otherwise what do we say about our old folks – that they really don’t matter?’
Under the Brexit withdrawal agreement, British citizens who lived in the EU before the 2016 referendum were given the right to stay.
However, in several countries it involved filling out applications and paperwork to prove historic rights under free movement rules.
A Swedish government spokesman has said it is “against the law” to comment on immigration issues.
A British Foreign Office spokesperson added that it was “supporting” Ms Poole and her family.