DecryptionIf Europeans do not need a visa for a tourist stay in the United Kingdom, they must, on the other hand, since January 1, 2021, obtain a work visa to settle there.
A second pandemic wave started at the end of 2020 then four months of confinement masked a new reality in the United Kingdom: with Brexit, which entered into force on 1er January 2021, the free movement of people from and to the European Union has ended. From now on, new migratory laws are applied aiming, to paraphrase the slogan of the brexiters and Priti Patel, Minister of the Interior of Boris Johnson, to “Take back control” national borders.
As the country deconfines, as European expatriates consider summer vacations in the country to reunite with their families, this reality is imposed, sometimes brutal, insecure for many. Because the Home Office seems to want to apply the new rules with zeal.
In the first quarter of 2021, 3,294 European citizens were turned away at the British borders, against 493 a year earlier during the same period. Romanians represent the bulk of the repressed workforce (2,118 in the first quarter of 2021), but 54 French people are also in this case. “These figures are substantial, especially since we are still in a pandemic with strong travel restrictions”, emphasizes Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory in Oxford.
Placed in detention area upon arrival
A few high-profile stories have thrown a chill: up to 30 Europeans, according to the online newspaper Politico, were placed in detention zones on their arrival on the grounds that they were not allowed to stay in the country. The Guardian reported the case of Ana Silvestre, 20, an Italian and Brazilian citizen, apprehended on May 8 at Luton Airport, north-west London, sent to a detention center where she spent seven days before being arrested. be deported to Italy. And that of Abi, originally from Estonia, suspected of coming to work as an au pair, detained for 30 hours at Gatwick airport, south London, before being deported.
Two French people have experienced detention centers since the beginning of this year, one on his arrival in Scotland, the other in England, but were only detained for a few hours. “It is unacceptable, in most cases these people are not criminals at all, but ignore the new rules”, reacts Nicolas Hatton, president of The3million association, protecting the rights of Europeans in the United Kingdom.
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