FEven many years after the UK officially left the European Union, it is still surprising to read about the self-defeating, if sometimes unintended, consequences of Brexit. A Spanish woman was detained at Luton Airport and refused re-entry after visiting Spain over Christmas, despite having lived and worked in the UK with her family for many years. A French woman married to a British man had to quit her job due to an apparent document mix-up.
Like tens of thousands of post-Brexit EU nationals, trapped in unresolved gray areas and contradictory rules, these incidents are a recurring story in post-Brexit Europe. Asked by the Guardian about the plight of Spanish women, the Home Office’s response parroted a common refrain: “The Border Force’s first priority is to protect the safety and security of our borders, and we will never We will not compromise,” the spokesperson said.
A 34-year-old veterinary nursing apprentice, who lives with her husband and in-laws in Bedfordshire, is detained after returning home after a trip to see her sister’s baby and carrying British government documents stating her right to work. How does that contribute? Is the border “safe and secure”? Obviously not.
This French woman was even luckier. After her girlfriend spoke out about her own case, the Home Office restored her residence and work rights.
Was this really about leaving the EU? Did “taking back control” mean kicking out the neighbors? Was it worth the lost growth and trade, logistics nightmares and labor shortages? I don’t know how this can be considered a victory.
Around 4,000 EU nationals are refused entry to the UK every quarter on suspicion of concealing undocumented work or study plans. This means that around 60% of people currently refused entry to the UK are from the European Union. They are usually the easiest people to send back to their country of origin.
Some of them claim legitimate residency rights under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Agreement. Amid the disruption caused by the pandemic and travel restrictions, the UK has accepted late applications for what it calls “pre-settlement”. As of the end of September 2023, approximately 142,000 EU nationals are still waiting for their applications to be considered. Around 11,000 people have been waiting for her for more than two years, and it could take another two-and-a-half years to clear the backlog, according to her EU citizenship advocacy group 3 Million in the UK. This creates uncertainty, anxiety and possible displacement for thousands of families.
Obviously, all this cannot be compared to the suffering of people who make dangerous journeys to reach the shores of the EU or UK, or the way they are treated at their borders. In a sense, Europe’s privileged classes are rediscovering the injustices they encounter at the borders they have long forced others to endure.
However, depending on your country of origin, people in the UK may experience varying levels of discrimination and hostility towards other Europeans. According to Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, most of those rejected or waiting for their applications to be approved are from Romania, followed further afield by Bulgaria, Poland and Portugal.
You might imagine that Britons would suffer similar red tape and uncertainty within the EU, but in reality this is hardly the case. In Spain, a common response from readers commenting on the Spanish woman detained in Luton was that British nationals should be treated equally. Across the borders of all 27 EU countries, 4,465 British nationals were detained in 2021 and 1,270 in 2022, with no refusals at Spanish borders in either year. Most British nationals were stranded at the French or Dutch borders.
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More than five million EU nationals remain in the UK after applying for the settlement scheme, despite hurdles and the Conservative government’s constant targeting of foreigners. Although the number of new entrants is declining, Britain remains attractive to Spaniards and other Europeans. Youth unemployment remains very high in Spain, and many young Spaniards are still inquiring about the largely closed employment route in the UK’s service industry to learn English and acquire more skills. .
When I return to Spain, I am always asked the same two questions about the UK and Brexit. Did you regret it? Will they come back? My answer is usually, “Yes, it’s deep,” and “It’s complicated.”