Sweden outlines child care policy amid registration row over infant in Hong Kong

Swedish authorities who have taken over the care of the daughter of a Hong Kong couple with a troubled parenting history have said that whether a child faces risks at home is one of the key factors when deciding if intervention is needed.

But the social services department of Sweden’s Linkoping municipality declined to comment on the legal status of the couple’s daughter Lily on Wednesday, saying doing so would harm those involved.

The preschooler’s case came to light through her parents’ social media page, “Save Lily”, where they have campaigned for the girl, who was born at the couple’s home in Finland in October 2021, to be sent to Hong Kong.

According to the page, Swedish welfare authorities removed Lily from the care of Tsang Wai-bong, a 43-year-old former physiotherapist, and his partner, Kwan Pui-sin, in late 2023 over child welfare concerns during a period of undocumented stay in the country.

The pair’s first daughter was also born at home in Finland but died there in 2019, at the age of one month.

The family had moved to Sweden after Finnish authorities refused to issue Lily a birth certificate on the grounds that she was a Hong Kong resident.