[D66] [JD: 89] UK like an ‘enemy state’ to EU nationals detained by Border Force

[R.O.]

  guardian:


  UK like an ‘enemy state’ to EU nationals detained by Border Force

Confused over regulations, Home Office border staff meet legitimate
visitors and workers with suspicion

A Border Force official checking a passport.

One Spanish airline worker had to show border officials his
flight-attendant schedule to convince them he was not an illegal
migrant. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Lisa O'Carroll <https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lisaocarroll> Brexit
correspondent

@lisaocarroll <https://www.twitter.com/lisaocarroll>

Fri 21 May 2021 06.00 BST

Last modified on Fri 21 May 2021 10.12 BST

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2,240

EU citizens living and working in the UK have revealed how they are
being met with suspicion and threats that they will be refused entry at
the UK border for the first time in their lives, fuelling fresh fears
that Border Force officials have not been trained in the new Brexit
<https://www.theguardian.com/politics/eu-referendum> rules.

Wolfgang, a German national who runs an IT business, was detained at
Heathrow airport despite having proof of settled status, indefinite
leave to remain and a British passport on the way.

He is furious that his rights were suspended on the whim of a Border
Force official.

“I have settled status,” he said. “I have indefinite leave to remain. I
am about to become a British citizen. How is it that a border official
with one tick can suspend those rights?”

UK detention document issued to German national who has settled status.


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UK detention document issued to German national who has settled status.
Photograph: Provided

“To be blunt, I am avoiding coming back to the UK now until I get my
British passport,” Wolfgang said from Germany. “I pay a large amount of
tax there, I have never used the health service, I contribute to the
economy, I own property there. London is my favourite city in the world,
but I have no documents to show I can stay there,” he said, referring to
the fact that the government has voted against giving EU citizens a
residency card to show employers, landlords or border officials.

“They need to provide a document that guarantees that this is an
irrevocable status unless you have some sort of major criminal offence,”
said Wolfgang.

Hilary Benn, a Labour MP and the former chair of the now-disbanded
Commons Brexit select committee, said cases such as Wolfgang’s raise
concerns about what is in store for the 4.9 million EU citizens who have
already been granted settled or pre-settled status, especially as they
start to return from visits to their countries of birth when Covid
restrictions are lifted.

“It’s worrying to hear of these incidents happening. The Home Office
needs to make sure that all Border Force staff are fully trained in
applying the new rules.”

Referring to a new Brexit body set up in January to protect EU citizens’
rights, Benn added: “This is something that the Independent Monitoring
Authority needs to look at.”

Among the other cases is that of Antonio, a Spanish airline worker who
was made to wait for 45 minutes at Gatwick while border officials tried
to decide if he was lying when he told them he had pre-settled status.

He said: “My passport was not associated with the settled status. When I
told them that is because I applied using my ID card which was perfectly
acceptable to the Home Office, they told me that ID cards are no longer
acceptable at the border.”

He was only let through after he produced his airline ID and his
flight-attendant schedule to prove he was not an illegal migrant.

“Because of my job I have flown to many destinations and I have been
through border controls in different countries. I felt I had landed in
some random enemy state.

“This is the first time I felt intimidated by a police officer asking me
questions just for being a foreigner living in the UK,” he added.

For new arrivals with work visas, it is not plain sailing either.

One Italian man, arriving for a new job at a top British bank, was
confronted with officials unsure of the rules when he landed at London
City airport.

Marco was detained for hours while border officials, who had refused his
request to stamp the arrival date on his passport, pondered over a
letter from his lawyer telling him he needed the official marking on his
passport in order to take up his new job.

“I was escorted to a waiting room. After almost three hours I was called
by an officer who explained to me that it was ‘a bit of a grey area’ as
my visa had been issued in electronic form and no guidance had been
given by the government on how this would be formally
recognised/recorded on one’s passport,” said Marco.

When he arrived at his new job, the first thing the HR department
required was the stamp on his passport for their ‘right to work’ check.

Marco’s case is one of half a dozen brought to the attention of the
Guardian, which has reported how another cohort of EU citizens – those
arriving to visit or to look for work – have been handcuffed, locked up
and had personal belongings
<https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/17/handcuffed-detained-denied-medicine-eu-citizens-uk-border-ordeals>
removed from them before being deported.


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If you have been affected or have any information, we'd like to hear
from you. You can get in touch by filling in the form below, anonymously
if you  wish or contact us via WhatsApp
<https://www.theguardian.com/info/2015/aug/12/whatsapp-sharing-stories-with-the-guardian> by clicking
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contact +44(0)7766780300. Only the Guardian can see your contributions
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Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister and author of the Free Movement blog
<https://www.freemovement.org.uk/>, said: “This is just how borders work
and this has been happening to everyone else from outside the EU and is
now just being applied to EU citizens.

“The whole point of free movement was to remove friction at the border.
To deliberately reintroduce it was bound to have consequences.

“How Border Force is going to cope with this is hard to see. It is a
huge job reimposing full controls between Britain and the EU,” he said.

The Home Office said it was unable to investigate the reports as it had
not been “provided details of the alleged persons involved”.

A spokeswoman added: “EU citizens are our friends and neighbours and we
want them to stay in the UK, which is why we launched our
ground-breaking EU Settlement Scheme.

“Those who do not have status under the EUSS can enter the UK for up to
six months as visitors, visa free. However, now freedom of movement has
ended, those coming to work or study must prove they meet our entry
requirements. We urge people to check the requirements before travelling.

“We expect Border Force to treat all arrivals with respect and consider
each passenger’s situation on an individual basis. The British public
expect us to check that everyone entering the UK has the right to do so,
and passengers may be asked questions to establish the basis on which
they are seeking to enter the UK.”


/Names of EU citizens have been changed to protect their identity/

/If you have been held at the border and want to share your story please
contact lisa.ocarroll at theguardian.com
<mailto:lisa.ocarroll at theguardian.com> and
giles.tremlett at theguardian.com <mailto:giles.tremlett at theguardian.com>
or fill in the form in the article above./

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