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<h1 class="css-7g0r1e">guardian:<br>
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<h1 class="css-7g0r1e">UK like an ‘enemy state’ to EU
nationals detained by Border Force</h1>
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<p>Confused over regulations, Home Office border staff meet
legitimate visitors and workers with suspicion</p>
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media="(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25),
(min-resolution: 120dpi)"><source><img alt="A Border
Force official checking a passport."
src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/69aa44e6a6c4abc016b6c27405d1d9eddfaf1faf/0_0_3500_2101/master/3500.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=b5ee24828ccddc65483e3241e5dda46b"
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<figure id="071ca18b-d9a3-4253-9cf6-919f79f24b9f"><span
class="css-l6t30p"><figcaption class="css-xe26t6"><span
class="css-19x4pdv">One Spanish airline worker had to
show border officials his flight-attendant schedule to
convince them he was not an illegal migrant.</span>
Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA</figcaption></span></figure>
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<address aria-label="Contributor info"
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<div class="css-q1awta"><a rel="author"
data-link-name="auto tag link"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lisaocarroll">Lisa
O'Carroll</a> Brexit correspondent</div>
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viewBox="-298 390 14 14"></svg></div>
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aria-label="@lisaocarroll on Twitter">@lisaocarroll</a></div>
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<div class="css-dcy86h"><label class="css-hn0k3p"
for="dateToggle">Fri 21 May 2021 06.00 BST</label>
<p class="css-vdb1rb">Last modified on Fri 21 May 2021 10.12
BST</p>
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<p class="css-1yqigsj">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 <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/eu-referendum"
data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body
link">Brexit</a> rules.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">He is furious that his rights were
suspended on the whim of a Border Force official.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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?”</p>
<figure id="ff23a9f7-a83d-41a1-aa10-d5ba171dcc64"
class="css-10khgmf">
<div class="css-1nfcn93"><source
media="(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25),
(min-resolution: 120dpi)"><source><img alt="UK detention
document issued to German national who has settled
status."
src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/709e7c06a9083775e9f642a13227232596dbabc6/0_0_2398_3437/master/2398.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=b648cef58b8759eebd883db08209ed14"
class="css-uk6cul" width="587" height="838">
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<h4>Share your story</h4>
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<h4 class="css-233uwr">Share your experiences</h4>
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<figcaption class="css-xe26t6"><span class="css-1amgqzt"><svg
width="11" height="10" viewBox="0 0 11 10"></svg></span></figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="ff23a9f7-a83d-41a1-aa10-d5ba171dcc64"
class="css-10khgmf"><figcaption class="css-xe26t6"><span
class="css-19x4pdv">UK detention document issued to German
national who has settled status.</span> Photograph: Provided</figcaption></figure>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.”</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.”</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.”</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">He was only let through after he produced his
airline ID and his flight-attendant schedule to prove he was not
an illegal migrant.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">For new arrivals with work visas, it is not
plain sailing either.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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 – <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/17/handcuffed-detained-denied-medicine-eu-citizens-uk-border-ordeals"
data-link-name="in body link">have been handcuffed, locked up
and had personal belongings</a> removed from them before being
deported.</p>
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<h4>Share your story</h4>
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<h4 class="css-233uwr">Share your experiences</h4>
<h4>Share your story</h4>
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<h4 class="css-233uwr">Share your experiences</h4>
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<p>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 <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/info/2015/aug/12/whatsapp-sharing-stories-with-the-guardian">via
WhatsApp</a> by <a
href="https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=447766780300">clicking
here </a>or adding the contact +44(0)7766780300.
Only the Guardian can see your contributions and one
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<p class="css-1yqigsj">Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister and
author of the <a href="https://www.freemovement.org.uk/"
data-link-name="in body link">Free Movement blog</a>, 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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“The whole point of free movement was to
remove friction at the border. To deliberately reintroduce it was
bound to have consequences.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">The Home Office said it was unable to
investigate the reports as it had not been “provided details of
the alleged persons involved”.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj">“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.”</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj"><br>
</p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj"><em>Names of EU citizens have been changed to
protect their identity</em></p>
<p class="css-1yqigsj"><em>If you have been held at the border and
want to share your story please contact <a
href="mailto:lisa.ocarroll@theguardian.com" data-link-name="in
body link">lisa.ocarroll@theguardian.com</a> and <a
href="mailto:giles.tremlett@theguardian.com"
data-link-name="in body link">giles.tremlett@theguardian.com</a>
or fill in the form in the article above.</em></p>
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