Delays by the UK government in processing thousands of residency applications from EU nationals could lead to a new Windrush, a scandal in which citizens were wrongfully deported, UK lawmakers have warned .
In a letter dated last Thursday (25 May) to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, the House of Lords European Affairs Committee referred to the fact that around 200,000 applications for residency in the UK States under the scheme to obtain permanent resident status for EU nationals (EU Settlement Scheme, EUSS), were still awaiting a decision, more than a year after the deadline for filing demands.
The commission heard testimony that these delays have serious consequences and could lead to “Windrush-like scenarios”.
In 2018, the Windrush political scandal began in the UK after news emerged that people had been detained, deprived of their legal rights, threatened with deportation or even wrongfully deported by the Home Office.
The post-Brexit permanent resident scheme, introduced in 2018, was designed to allow EU nationals to continue to live and work in the UK after it leaves the Union, but around three million applicants received “pre-registration” status, which only entitled them to five years of residency, after which they had to reapply.
Last December, the UK High Court of Justice ruled that people granted pre-registration status have the right to reside permanently in the UK once they have lived there for the required five-year period. and they do not need to reapply.
Earlier this year, the commission was told that people with pending applications were having difficulty obtaining provisional driving licenses, European health insurance cards and national insurance numbers.
This situation has led to problems with access to essential social benefits such as national insurance numbers and “Universal Credit”, a financial aid granted to people with insufficient income.
In addition, in some cases applicants are “advised not to leave the country” while decisions are pending and are therefore “effectively imprisoned” in the UK, the commission added.
“We are particularly concerned that the backlog that has developed as a result of delays in applying to the permanent resident status scheme is having a serious impact on individuals living in uncertainty, leaving them unable to make the fundamental decisions they need to live their lives, access work or support, or even travel outside the UK. »
The letter adds that it is “clear from the testimony we have heard that the rights of EU citizens in the UK and of UK citizens in the EU remain ongoing issues. “.
Meanwhile, an error in the Home Office database in January led to the incorrect application status being displayed online for around 146,000 people.
Five months after the High Court’s ruling, the parliamentary committee said that “there is still no clarity on how the residency rights of pre-registration status holders will be guaranteed, and whether they will still have to complete an application for permanent resident status to guarantee their rights”.
The lawmakers asked for “ clarification on this point as soon as possible ”.
The committee also expressed concern at ministers’ comments that the government was working to ensure that the Court’s judgment is implemented only by September 2023, when the first expiry dates for the status pre-registration will be reached.
“It is clear from the evidence we have received that the rights of EU citizens in the UK and of British citizens in the EU continue to be of serious concern,” said European Affairs Committee Chair Lord Stewart Wood.
This article is originally published on euractiv.fr