Government tells Romanian national in immigration detention to leave UK or 'end up on the streets'

The man was denied his request for emergency accommodation and told to go to another EU country for help

The Home Office has been accused of a creating a "hostile environment" for EU nationals (PA)

A Romanian national was reportedly told by the Home Office that he should either leave the UK or face destitution.

The unnamed man, who is a European Union citizen, was being held in immigration detention centre and had allegedly applied for emergency accommodation, which was rejected.

Instead, in a letter dated 18 October, the Home Office told the man to consider going back to Romania or move to another EU country to “avoid becoming destitute”.

The letter reportedly reminded him that European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rules – which protect him from discrimination – applied in the 47 countries who make up the European Council, including the UK, the Observer reported.

It comes after the Government has been accused of creating a “hostile environment” for EU nationals living in the UK despite the fact they are still legally entitled to live and work here visa free.

Analysis earlier this month showed that more than 5,000 EU citizens have been removed from the UK between June 2016 and June 2017, a 20 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, though the number has been rising since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

Other anecdotal evidence shows the Government is turning down many EU citizens’ applications for permanent residency in the UK and wrongly telling them to prepare to leave.

Eva Johanna Holmberg, a Finnish historian living in Brighton, said she was sent a letter by the Home Office in August which said she was “liable to be detained” if she did not leave the country voluntarily.

Officials later apologised and said around 100 letters were sent to people “in error” and they were investigating.

The Government has been desperate to fulfil a manifesto promise to get net migration down to the tens of thousands and its hostility to immigrants has reached a crescendo since the EU referendum as it tries to appeal to increasing xenophobic elements within the Tory party.

Celia Clarke, director of the legal charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD), told the Observer: “One of the worrying aspects of the Home Office letter refusing an EU national entitlement to accommodation to enable him to apply for bail to get out of detention is its tone: effectively telling a detainee to go home or go to another EU country.

“If UK officials are acting in this way towards EU nationals now, the future of our relations with EU nationals and countries should be a concern to us all. The danger is that the divorce from the EU is becoming ever more acrimonious, and this is reflected in both the tone and the practice of the Home Office.”