A large number of EU citizens in the UK are in danger of being “locked out of exercising their rights”, a conference was told this week. The Civil Society EUSS Alliance, which comprises over 200 organisations working with communities across the UK, raised their concerns at a meeting in Parliament.
Conference members heard that many applicants face “hurdles” in trying to secure their right to remain in the UK. Hundreds of thousands of “vulnerable EU citizens” are at risk of being left undocumented, which could see them excluded from employment or unable to access health and social care, it is claimed.
No one from the UK Home Office was immediately available to comment on the allegations. The meeting was organised by the campaign group New Europeans UK on 11 December. It was hosted by Manuela Perteghella, the MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, and held in one of the rooms off Westminster Hall, where the late Queen Elizabeth II lay in state.
The Liberal Democrat MP, who won her seat in this summer’s General Election, is herself an EU citizen originally from Italy. Others present included Baroness Lister (Labour), Lord Balfe (Conservative), Lord Rennard (Lib Dem), Lord Hannay (crossbench), and Lydia Martin, deputy head of projects at New Europeans UK.
Complex cases
Martin, who also coordinates the Civil Society EUSS Alliance, described the main challenges faced by EU citizens in successfully negotiating the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). The cases which New Europeans UK and other groups in the Alliance are now seeing, of EU citizens still trying to secure their immigration status, tend to be complex in nature.
She said, “We are at a stage now where everyone making an application, or who has issues with their status and exercising their rights, really should be getting legal advice. This means that if you don’t have access to or can’t find a free accredited adviser near you, then we are in a situation where people are locked out of exercising their rights.”
In practice this could mean people being excluded from employment or education, or unable to rent accommodation. It could see them denied access to welfare and benefits, along with health and social services, Martin explained. At the same time, people might be unable to travel abroad while their application is on hold, and family members could find themselves separated or living with different statuses, she added.
Organisations supporting EU citizens with their applications are already seeing examples of individuals losing their jobs, landlords rejecting EU citizens, or people being stopped at the UK border, the conference heard.
Over a million rejected
The then Conservative government set up the EUSS scheme in 2019, requiring every EU citizen who moved to the UK before December 2020 to apply for residency in order to secure their rights, as set out in the withdrawal agreement reached between the UK and the EU. But while millions of applications for EUSS have been granted by the Home Office, more than a million have been rejected.
This means that organisations offering EU citizens support with their applications are now mainly dealing with late or rejected cases. These often involve individuals who either were not aware of having to apply or who face barriers such as language difficulties, or insufficient digital and literacy skills to fill in the application forms. Some lack the necessary documentation. Many are older people, women, and belong to ethnic minorities, the conference heard.
It is not known exactly how many EU citizens there are currently living in the UK. The 2021 Census recorded around 3.6 million, with many having left since 2019 when the EUSS scheme was introduced. In total, more than eight million applications have now been received since 2019, including some repeat/duplicate applications, and the majority of these have been concluded. Of these, around four million were granted settled status (after proving at least five years of residence), while 1.7 million were granted pre-settled status. Some 15% had other outcomes, including applications refused, withdrawn or invalid.
Even if you are granted pre-settled status you do need to upgrade to settled status once you reach the required five years of residence. This means millions more need to secure their immigration status in years to come.
Overseas UK constituencies?
Separately, New Europeans UK, together with the grassroots organisation Unlock Democracy, is stepping up its ongoing campaign for an overseas parliamentary constituency. Although all UK citizens living abroad are now able to vote due to the removal of the 15-year bar, campaigners say their voices are “substantively muted by a weak system of representation in Westminster.”
These voters are currently represented by the MP for their last place of residence in the UK (which they might have left 30 or 40 years ago). Their MP, it is claimed by the groups, is likely to have had little experience of dealing with the concerns citizens abroad regularly face. “This means their issues are often not addressed, or only poorly addressed”, says Else Kvist, head of campaigns and communications for New Europeans UK.
Currently, 17 countries, including several in Europe – Croatia, France, Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Portugal, and Romania – have established overseas constituencies.
The two campaign groups say the UK could implement such a system through a two-stage process: first, running a registration drive for eligible citizens, and second, determining the number of MPs, based on the registered number of overseas voters, and set by the Boundary Commission using the typical UK constituency electorate.
The New Europeans organisation is supported by, among others, the UK Home Office, Trust for London and the Community Fund. It is a former winner of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation award.
