Germany is Responsible for the Plight of EU Families in the UK (and other alternative-facts from the Brexit camp)

One of the Brexiters' favourite memes at the moment (oft repeated in the press) is the one that lays blame for the fear and uncertainly being suffered by EU citizens living in the UK at Angela Merkel's door. Take this recent tweet I received - after complaining that the UK Government were threatening to deport my wife (which, at the moment, they still are):

@Schroedinger99 @sevanslux @odysseanproject May offered to settle this and Germany refused.

— Tuppence (@TuppenceFervour) January 22, 2017

First of all, it should be pointed out, the EU has very little control over how individual EU countries deal with their non-EU residents. For example, the UK's arrangements for Australians or Pakistanis who wish to come here and reside here are very much our affair not the EU's. So a "reciprocal" deal between the UK and the EU, in the way May talks about this, simply is not possible.

It is the UK who has decided to strip its own citizens of their EU citizenship and EU citizens of their rights in the UK; so the current predicament is entirely of our making. We cannot somehow shift the responsibility to the EU.

It is true that May offered to discuss this, not to "settle" it, before submitting Article 50. Who knows whether there will be an agreement on this with all 27 countries or how long such agreements might take? But the suggestion that there might be "pre-discussions" (about anything) before submitting Article 50 was rejected not by Germany but by all 27 countries unanimously - and they don't agree on very much unanimously these days. For obvious reasons, the rest of the EU want to stick to a firm timetable.

Moreover, there are other problems with the notion of negotiating "reciprocal arrangements" with the EU. There is no symmetry between the distribution of EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in Europe. Quite how the Home Office, or the UK’s EU negotiating team, imagine that their threat to deport Germans (like my wife) will dissuade (say) the Spanish from deporting their large collection of UK pensioners (perhaps in a fit of pique over Gibraltar) is never made clear.

Sadly, the UK is not the only country in the EU which now has a right-wing nationalist and isolationist government in power. Hungary and Poland have taken similar directions and an even more lunatic and xenophobic party is on the ascendancy in France. It is by no means entirely beyond the cards that some other EU countries might, one day, start expelling British Citizens. We do not have to invoke Godwin's law and go back before 1945 to find examples of war, dictatorship, and ethnic cleansing in Europe.

Think about the position of our own Government! It is saying that if other countries refuse to allow UK citizens to remain once we are no longer in the EU (which would also, of course, be abhorrent) we shall retaliate by expelling law-abiding EU families - who came here legally and in good faith - from the UK. Such retaliation would be morally reprehensible - whether the citizens in question were originally from a country expelling our citizens or originally from a third country.

And even to threaten such a thing is morally reprehensible.

While many EU leaders are doing their best to try and make it possible for UK citizens to acquire some kind of "associate" EU citizenship post-Brexit (though this very well might not happen - it's complicated) the UK is going out of its way to make life for its EU citizens as difficult as possible.

The UK, for practical and political reasons, and for reasons af basic human decency needs to unilaterally guarantee the rights of its EU citizens living here; and it needs to do it now.

There's no place like the Home Office

For background see: EU citizens in the UK are already facing Home Office threats

Unless something very big starts happening very soon, two or three million [1] EU citizens will wake up in the UK on the morning of 2019 April 1 without continuing permission to remain working, studying, or living here. This is, I submit, going to be a bit of a problem.

The Government have made it very clear that, as they put it, they 'want to protect the status of EU nationals already living in the UK' and that 'the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British[2] Citizens' rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return'[3].

This statement chills me to the bone.

Quite how the Home Office, or the UK’s EU negotiating team, imagine that their threat to deport Germans like my wife Karin will dissuade (say) the Spanish from deporting their large collection of UK pensioners is never made clear. Nor is the question ever addressed of whether – even if the Spanish (perhaps in a fit of pique over Gibraltar) decided to deport hundreds of thousands of Brits (a move that would clearly be morally reprehensible) – it could ever be morally justifiable to retaliate by deporting law-abiding families (Spanish or otherwise) from our country.

But let us assume that the remaining 27 EU countries[4] do not wish to start rounding up and expelling UK citizens and that the Home Office finds itself able to grant permission for most or all of the EU citizens already here to stay[5]. What will happen then?

Theresa May has made it very clear that she considers keeping new EU students and workers out of the UK is more important to her even than the prosperity of the UK. There will, it must therefore be concluded, have to be some way of distinguishing between EU citizens who are and are not entitled to continue living, working, and studying here. The current Home Office system whereby EU citizens may obtain a Residency Permit is positively Kafkaesque and up to 30% of EU applicants are actually being turned down because they cannot satisfy the absurdly onerous conditions imposed by the Home Office[6]. If we are going to process three million people in two years we need a new regime and we need plans for that new regime now - if not by several months ago.

Since my wife and I are directly affected by this situation, I decided to write to the Government (through my MP) and ask them what their plans might be. I reproduce my correspondence below:

2016-12-15

Dear Ms Shah

I write as one of your constituents.

My wife (a German – and thus an EU - citizen) has lived with me in Bradford since 1985. I understand that, under international law, the UK government will not actually be able to deport her once Brexit goes through, since she has been here more than five years[7], but we are very worried about what *is* going to happen.

At the very least, I assume she will require some kind of proof of residency or risk being turned away at the UK border whenever she returns from visiting her family in Germany or goes abroad on holiday or with work. Even if German citizens retain the right to visa-free *travel* to the UK, this will not allow them to enter the UK to continue living and working here – without any required papers.

We are investigating obtaining a residency permit (EEA PR), but this requires Karin to fill in an eighty-five page form – including listing every trip she or I have made abroad during the last thirty-one years. Since we both travel a lot – on business and for pleasure – the list will be almost impossible to draw up with any guarantee of accuracy.

Obviously, in the end, we shall have to try and complete this form and assemble the sheaves of documentation required, but this raises another concern: I understand there is already a huge backlog in processing applications for residency. Once Article 50 is submitted and the two year countdown to Brexit is underway, this backlog can only increase. And there are three million EU citizens living and working in the UK.

I realize that Theresa May’s government refuses to offer any guarantees on the continuing rights of EU citizens (something I find appalling, but we are where we are) but could you ask the government (on our behalf) for some kind of guidance as to what the arrangements are going to be – post Brexit – for EU citizens who *are* given the right to remain in the UK (especially those who, like my wife, have acquired rights under international law which can’t simply be negotiated away )?

Specifically:

1. Will there be some kind of fast track system under which EU citizens can register or will they have to apply for residency under the existing procedures?
2. What will happen if the backlog in the system prevents EU citizens living here obtaining the required papers in time for April 1, 2019? Will they be trapped in the UK until things are sorted out or will there be some kind of transitional arrangements?

We both lead busy working lives and we need to begin planning ahead. I don’t think it is unreasonable of us to request timely and clear answers to these questions.

Yours sincerely

etc

I have just received a reply from the Minister for Immigration Robert Goodwill. It was rather less hostile in tone than his recent letter to The 3 Million[8] and than any of the correspondence I've received from the Home Office (nothing, for example, about the "onus" being on EU citizens) but did not answer or even address either of the questions I asked.

2017-01-13

Dear Naz Shah

Thank you for your letter of 15 December 2016 on behalf of your constituents Dr Michael Ward and Mrs Karin XXXXXXXXXXX about the arrangements for European Union (EU) nationals after the UK leaves the EU.

As the Government has said, there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of EU nationals currently residing in the UK and they continue to be welcome here. EU citizens make an invaluable contribution to our economy and our society. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens' rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return. The Government intends to reach agreement with the EU on this issue as soon as possible.

More information on the rights and residence requirements of EEA citizens in the UK following the referendum is available here: www.gov.uk/qovernment/news/statement-the-status-of-eu-nationals-in-the-uk.

You asked about the arrangements for EU nationals applying for residence documentation. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) staff are deployed according to demands on the service. Currently, all residence documentation applications from EU nationals are being considered within the published service standards.

I note your constituents are concerned about the length of the application forms. The application forms are designed to cover a range of scenarios in which an applicant may qualify. No applicant is required to complete every page only those sections that are relevant to their circumstances.

The forms are also accompanied by comprehensive guidance notes to assist applicants in submitting the relevant supporting documentation.

Applicants who, like Mrs XXXXXXXXXXX, have lived in the UK for a number of years do not have to provide evidence covering their entire period of residence. Applicants can, in principle, focus on any continuous five-year period of qualifying residence. However, if the period of qualifying residence ended more than two years ago, she must also provide some evidence that she has not been continuously absent from the UK for more than two years since then.

UKVI continue to make applications quicker and easier and are working to digitise applications to provide a more modern service that is in line with modern consumers. As part of this, we recently added two EEA application forms to our online application service. These are currently available for applicants who meet specific conditions but we are currently working towards expanding the service to those who apply on behalf of themselves and family members. With digitisation, the online forms are able to screen out any irrelevant questions, depending on the application type and previous answers given.

Finally. if Mrs Karin XXXXXXXXXXX was [sic] to submit an application online, she may be interested to know that it is not necessary to surrender her passport and be without it while her application is being considered.

Since October 2016, the European Passport Return Service has been provided by local authorities for EEA and Swiss nationals applying online using the EEA(PP) or EEA(PR) application forms. A participating local authority can photocopy an EEA or Swiss passport and forward a copy to the Home Office on the applicant's behalf. Further information is available at https://www.qov.uk/qovernment/collectionsteuropean-passport-return-service.

I trust this answers your constituent's concerns.

Yours sincerely

Robert Goodwill

You may have your own opinions on whether EU citizens "continue to be welcome here". Anyway, I have just replied:

2017-01-18

Dear Mr Goodwill

Thank you for your letter of 2017 January 13 which Naz Shah’s office has forwarded to me.

Far from answering my concerns, your letter has increased my concerns. Moreover you do not answer, or even address, either of the questions I actually asked.

You make the chilling suggestion that, if British Citizens’ rights were not protected in EU countries (which would obviously be entirely unacceptable too) you would retaliate by expelling law-abiding people who came here legally and in good faith. I find this suggestion morally repugnant.

You also provide a lot of information about the information and facilities on your website and the process for submitting our documents (which involves a 30 mile round trip in our case) but I was well aware of all of this when I wrote in the first place. Your website is labyrinthine, ambiguous, and – in places – downright contradictory. I am grateful for your clarification that my wife only need fill in 5 years of travel dates not 31. Perhaps you might suggest to your staff that they correct the instructions on your site? (Though I do not really understand why we have to provide these dates as this is information that the Home Office already has – automatically from the airlines and ferry companies – and information we do not really have.)

In conclusion, I note that, by default, three million people will wake up in the UK on the morning of 2019 April 1 with no permission to remain working, studying, and living in the UK. Assuming that you do decide to allow most or all of them to stay and assuming that you are going to prevent new EU migrants from coming here to settle, study, and work after that date (unless they have special permits) I submit that you are going to need some way of distinguishing between the two categories of EU citizens. I therefore assume that you are making plans for new systems that will be fit for the purpose of issuing appropriate documents to three million people over the next two years. I do not think it is unreasonable for people in our position to ask what those plans might be.

I repeat my two questions:

1. Will there be some kind of fast track system under which EU citizens can register or will they have to apply for residency under the existing procedures?
2. What will happen if the backlog in the system prevents EU citizens living here obtaining the required papers in time for April 1, 2019? Will they be trapped in the UK until things are sorted out or will there be some kind of transitional arrangements?

I hope you will now answer them.

Yours sincerely

etc

I had a reply (of sorts) from the Home Office (not a politician) which payed even less attention to anything I said in my letter than Robert Goodwill's response did, made claims that are blatantly false, and contained nothing but extreme pro-Brexit propaganda:

2017-02-17 

Dear Dr Ward 

Thank you for your letter of 18 January to the Minister for Immigration. As I am sure you can appreciate, the Minister receives a large amount of correspondence and is unable to reply personally to each item received. Your letter has therefore been passed to the Direct Communications Unit at the Home Office and I have been asked to reply. 

In the referendum, the British people voted for control on the number of people who come here from the EU. Leaving the EU now offers us the opportunity to deliver that.
The Government's White Paper published on 2 February confirms that the UK will remain an open and tolerant country; one that recognises the valuable contribution migrants make to our society and welcomes those with the skills and expertise to make our nation better still. 

The UK needs a fair and controlled immigration policy and that is exactly what this Government will deliver. We want to see net migration to the UK fall to sustainable levels — the tens of thousands. But we recognise this is a complex issue and that there is no quick fix. 

The White Paper makes clear that leaving the EU must mean control of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe. We will continue to attract the brightest and the best to work or study in Britain but there must be control. 

We are considering the options for our future immigration system very carefully. As part of that it is important that we understand the impacts of different options on different sectors of the economy and the labour market. 

Parliament will have an important role to play in this and we will ensure businesses and communities have the opportunity to contribute their views. 

The Prime Minister has also underlined that it would not be right for the Government to give a running commentary on negotiations. It is about developing our own British model so we will not make decisions until we are ready. We will work hard to get the right deal as we conduct our exit negotiations.  

I trust this clarifies the Government's position. 

Yours sincerely 

Mr Xxx 

Direct Communications Unit

I got straight back to them:

2017-02-23

Dear Mr Xxx

Thank you for your letter of 17 February. 

I am not sure when the British people voted for control on the number of people who come here from the EU. There was nothing about this on the ballot paper I was handed when I voted in the referendum.

In any case this has nothing to do with the questions I asked in my letter to Robert Goodwill.

I afraid that the UK has already become a far more closed and intolerant country.

But this too has nothing to do with the questions I asked in my letter to Robert Goodwill.

You already have full control over the numbers of non EU migrants coming to the UK and yet you have not  reduced their numbers to tens of thousands. Forgive me if I express scepticism that you will reduce migration from the EU to tens of thousands. Moreover it would be economically disastrous if you did.

But this too has nothing to do with the questions I asked in my letter.

I’m afraid the brightest and best are already leaving in droves and will increasingly shun the UK, its red tape, and its xenophobia.

But this too has nothing to do with my letter.

You may well be working hard to get a good Brexit deal with the EU. I don’t fancy your chances myself. But this, too, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with my letter.

I asked two specific question in my letter to my MP who forwarded my letter to Robert Goodwill. He replied via my MP but did not  answer or address either of my questions. I responded – putting my two questions once more. You have now responded to me – obviously without reading anything I had actually written.

So let me put my two questions for a third time:

1. Will there be some kind of fast track system under which EU citizens [currently resident in the UK] can register or will they have to apply for residency under the existing procedures?
2. What will happen if the backlog in the system prevents EU citizens living here obtaining the required papers in time for April 1, 2019? Will they be trapped in the UK until things are sorted out or will there be some kind of transitional arrangements?

Perhaps you might now answer these two questions – even if only to say “We are not sure. We have not decided anything yet.”

Yours sincerely

etc

I doubt they will respond again.

It now seems I have exhausted all democratic avenues. So much for "getting back control".

1. Depending on how many simply decide enough is enough and leave these shores before then; or who manage to find their way through the existing Home Office maze.
2. Odd that they say "British" rather than UK. What about the Northern Irish?
3. See eg letter from Robert Goodwill of 2017 January 13 in this blog-post.
4. Of course there is the added complication here of the cut-off date. Will it be the date of the referendum? Such a decision would, whenever it were announced, retrospectively affect those who came her legally between the referendum and the date of any such announcement. Or will it be 2019 April 1? Such a decision might cause a stampede nearer the time. Or will it be some other date.
5. The status of non EU citizens in EU countries is actually a much more complex question than the UK Governments seems to realize. Some matters are decided at the EU level but most are decided in the individual countries (think of how we treat (say) Americans versus how (say) Germany treats them).
6. Brexit: 1m EU citizens in Britain 'could be at risk of deportation'
7. It turns out that this is not actually true: Brexit: acquired rights report from the House of Lords European Union committee
8. The Home Office responds to our question about deportation of EU citizens