Ann Linde, Swedish minister for EU affairs and trade, said on Monday that she was shocked by the uncertainty and xenophobia being experienced by Swedes in the United Kingdom since the 'brexit' referendum.

Linde said that the future of approximately 100,000 Swedish people in Britain, and some 30,000 British people in Sweden, needed to be urgently dealt with.

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"This is one of the very most important issues and we have to solve it in a very constructive way in the first part of the negotiations," Linde said in central London after a meeting with Swedish citizens and ahead of a meeting with David Davis, the Brexit secretary.

Theresa May's British government has said that it is willing to guarantee EU citizens the right to live in the United Kingdom but only if the same is reciprocated by the other 27 member-states of the European Union.

Asked if she could give the same reassurances to British people residing in Sweden, Linde replied that was an EU-wide issue and not something that Sweden could offer unilaterally.

"What I hope is we have a negotiation result where the Swedes who live in Britain can continue to do so and the Brits who stay in Sweden continue to do so," the minister said.

During the meeting at the Scandinavian Kitchen café in central London, Swedish citizens told Linde that they are anxious of their future. They also informed her of the xenophobic abuse they have experienced since the referendum.

One woman recounted how her chief executive had been prompted to send an email to all the employees warning them against xenophobia in the workplace after one of her co-workers told her that Britain had voted so that people like her could "get out."

Another citizen said that she felt that she and her fellow Swedes would end up being collateral damage in negotiations.

"What is worrying is that they (Swedes residing in Britain) are giving me evidence that they are not being treated like normal EU members," Linde said, adding that asking Swedish workers to sign specific contracts if they want to continue with new work, is discriminatory under EU laws.

She said that Britain is still an  EU member, and that EU law forbids discrimination of any kind.

TagsSweden, European Union, Europe, xenophobia, Britain, brexit