EU citizens set to have rights ‘stripped away’ after Brexit, MPs warn

‘Significant human rights concerns’ raised on behalf of EU nationals in UK

European Union citizens are set to have their rights “stripped away” after Brexit unless ministers put legislative protections in place to guarantee those rights, an influential group of MPs has warned.

The EU (Withdrawal) Act in its current form means the home secretary will be required to make secondary legislation in order to reinstate the rights of European Union nationals post-Brexit, according to the UK’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR).

This means enshrining citizens’ rights will be contingent on ministers taking action and will leave families in a “precarious situation” when it comes to their housing, social security and other free movement rights, the MPs said.

In a new report, the committee also expresses concern that the EU settlement scheme will create problems relating to the lack of physical proof of status, and that not enough is being done to raise awareness of the scheme and to assist people with applications.

Even if these matters are addressed, the MPs said they did not consider that these steps alone would solve the problems around a lack of physical proof of status.

They expressed concern that vulnerable people were particularly at risk of missing the deadline for the scheme due to a lack of awareness and difficulties accessing it.

The MPs said the Home Office should ensure physical proof of status is issued to those registered under the EU settlement scheme, warning that it could otherwise be confronted with a situation echoing the Windrush scandal.

Harriet Harman, chair of the JCHR, said: “Human rights protections for EU citizens must not be stripped away after Brexit. EU citizens living in this country right now will be understandably anxious about their futures.

“We’re talking about the rights of people who have resided in the UK for years, decades even, paying into our social security system or even having been born in the UK and lived here their whole lives.

“When it comes to rights, promising that everything will be worked out in the future is not good enough – it must be a guarantee, which is why the committee has reinserted rights guarantees back into the wording of the bill.”

MPs and peers are proposing a series of amendments to the bill, which aim to enshrine these protections and guarantees in the legislation.

Figures revealed last month that EU net migration had plummeted to the lowest level since 2009, as citizens from central and eastern European countries leave Britain ahead of Brexit.

Campaigners warned in January that tens of thousands of EU nationals living in Britain could become undocumented migrants after Brexit, due to “inadequate” efforts to inform harder-to-reach people they must apply under the settlement scheme.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government has already committed to protecting the rights of the millions of EU citizens living in the UK.

“We want them to stay and, whatever the outcome of the ongoing discussions about our exit from the EU, we will protect their rights and ensure they get the UK immigration status they need.

“The EU settlement scheme is designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible, and during testing more than 200,000 people have applied. Today we launched a nationwide marketing campaign to encourage EU citizens to apply for the scheme, with other activity planned over the next two years to ensure people understand what they need to do.”