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Registering EU citizens in the UK will create an underclass


Brexit will mean that 3m EU nationals living in the UK must apply to the EU registration scheme for permission to remain and retain their legal rights. This is no small undertaking, and could lead to the inadvertent creation of an underclass of illegal EU citizens in the UK — something that a government still recovering from the damage of the Windrush scandal should wish to avoid.

Under the scheme, Europeans from 26 member states (the Irish have guaranteed rights) must complete an application and provide evidence of residency in the UK for the past five years. There are legitimate moral questions around registration of those who have lived and worked in Britain for decades, contributed to the economy, the National Health Service and the education system. They are part of the rich social and cultural legacy of European migration to Britain. Leaving these considerations aside, the government faces unavoidable questions about what happens to those who fail to register, or are unable to provide evidence of residency.

After 15 years working as a welfare rights advocate, specialising in marginalised older people, I have learnt that the relationship between vulnerable people and bureaucracies is fraught. People who feel vulnerable, either through poverty, isolation, abuse, poor health or old age often shy away from, or are simply unaware of, administrative processes that people who live and work in the mainstream find straightforward. Many are fearful of interacting with the state, especially where the consequences of getting it wrong are serious.

Online applications are particularly difficult for older people, even more so when they are socially isolated — there are an estimated 65,000 EU citizens aged 75 and over living in the UK. If you understand the lives and thought processes of vulnerable people, the EU Settlement Scheme, with its extraordinarily high stakes assessment, is a concern.

I recently worked with an Italian woman in her 60s, who had spent her working life as an NHS carer and nurse. She suffered a severe breakdown following a family bereavement a few years ago, and has been spiralling downwards. A worried acquaintance called us for help, by which time she had lost her job, her home and her mental health. She is now living in a bedsit, without cooking or washing facilities and has become utterly disempowered. We can help her, including with her registration application (something she had not heard of before we raised it), but that is little more than luck. There will be others who are not so fortunate.

I asked the scheme’s helpline what would happen to EU citizens who had not successfully applied by the deadline — June 30 2021, or December 31 2020, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The answer was that “it would become an immigration issue”.

It should deeply worry ministersthat any cut-off date will lead to vulnerable, largely elderly, EU citizens becoming “illegal” overnight. Will their benefits be removed, even if they have paid national insurance for decades? Will means-tested benefits be withdrawn? If they live in council or sheltered housing, will they retain tenancy rights? Will they be made homeless? Deported?

A few days ago, a deputy director at the education watchdog Ofsted tweeted: “Have just found out my application for settled status in UK has been rejected. I now need to find evidence of residence since 2013. Not a good feeling.”

If a professional in a state bureaucracy has such difficulties, those worse equipped will struggle. This scheme will be fraught with human error and administrative problems. As the Institute for Government points out, there is “no chance” of reaching all those eligible to stay. Failure to apply or to meet the evidence threshold will result in removing rights and threatening immigration control on people who have lived in the UK for decades. It is not a scheme we should countenance in Britain.


The writer is co-director of a welfare rights charity for older people



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