Grassroots groups of EU citizens in the UK call for the Labour government to reform the EU Settlement Scheme

Charities and grassroots organisations of EU citizens in the UK are calling on the new UK government to make sure people who were in the UK before Brexit have their rights upheld, to avoid another Windrush scandal and improve relations between the UK and the EU. 

The call comes in a letter signed by 76 organisations, urging Keir Starmer to step in and make changes to the EU Settlement Scheme, the digital-only scheme set up to document the nearly 6m EU citizens in the country. 

Groups are pointing out that for the last eight years the most vulnerable people have suffered unfair consequences from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, by being refused immigration status and struggling to prove their rights. 

More than 130,000 people are still stuck in the Home Office’s backlog, including people who were granted pre-settled status, a temporary leave to remain, who now need to make a second application if they want to secure permanent rights to live in the UK. 

Campaigners are asking the new government to relieve pressure on the Home Office by automatically granting people indefinite leave to remain five years after their first application. 

Labour ministers are also warned they have inherited a disastrously planned roll-out of digital immigration status to all migrants. By the end of the year, all physical documents used by migrants are due to expire, with millions of people having to set up online accounts to prove their rights to live in the UK. The EU Settlement Scheme was the first to implement this digital-only approach and campaigners say it has been problematic for thousands, affecting people’s ability to work, rent and travel.

Andreea Dumitrache, Communications Manager at the3million, the grassroots organisation representing EU citizens in the UK, said: 

“The Home Office is broken and EU citizens have been caught in its Kafkaesque system since the UK left the EU. We are keen to work with the new government to make sure swift action is taken to protect EU citizens’ rights to live in the UK. People who have lived here since before Brexit have suffered serious consequences due to the previous government’s authoritarian approach to migrants’ rights. 

If the Prime Minister is serious about repairing the relationship between the UK and the EU, then he has a golden opportunity to do so, by taking quick steps to fix the EU Settlement Scheme. We believe this would be a significant show of goodwill towards the EU, relieving tensions and opening the door towards a better relationship with a close ally.”

Editors’ notes:

• Read the full letter to the Prime Minister
• Read the3million’s set of proposals for the new Labour government for the first 100 days in office 
• Andreea Dumitrache, Communications Manager at the3million, the grassroots organisation representing EU citizens in the UK, is available to interview.
• For more information, please contact Communications Manager Andreea Dumitrache at [email protected].