EU citizens are being detained and held in immigration removal centers after trying to enter the UK for work without visas or residence status, in a further blow to post-Brexit relations between Britain and the Continent.
politico.eu/article/eu-cit… #Brexit #migration
politico.eu/article/eu-cit… #Brexit #migration
EU diplomats have expressed concern about the transfer of the bloc’s nationals to immigration removal centers, where they are being held for up to seven days in some cases before being returned to their home countries.
The Home Office has not yet released official data on the number of EU nationals held at these centers since the start of the year. But @POLITICOEurope has heard of 30 cases involving German, Greek, Italian, Romanian and Spanish nationals.
European embassies in London are offering legal advice and intervening to try to shorten the period of detention, although not all EU citizens are seeking consular support.
Most cases concern young people, many of whom try to enter the U.K. to work as au pairs or to find low-skilled jobs for short periods of time — a practice that was common when Britain was subject to the EU’s freedom-of-movement rules.
At the time of publication, a 25-year-old Spanish national was being held at the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire, a two-hour drive from London Gatwick Airport, where she landed from Valencia on May 3.
The woman, who does not have access to her mobile phone, was told to wait for an interview with Home Office caseworkers, which should take place in the following 72 hours. But an outbreak of coronavirus has meant she is now expected to remain in self-isolation there for 10 days.
The length of these detentions is also partly explained by travel restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, which mean there are fewer flights available to return EU nationals and the Home Office must also arrange the COVID-19 test required before their return.
But some diplomats and law experts find the length of these detentions disproportionate.
@DimitriosGian, head of the law department at Goldsmiths, University of London, told me this “should be avoided at all costs.”
@DimitriosGian, head of the law department at Goldsmiths, University of London, told me this “should be avoided at all costs.”
UPDATE: A Home Office spox said the dpt does not routinely comment on individual cases.
For those without EU Settlement Scheme status by June 30, “as the public expects, we require evidence of an individual’s right to live and work in the UK,” they said.
For those without EU Settlement Scheme status by June 30, “as the public expects, we require evidence of an individual’s right to live and work in the UK,” they said.
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