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EU citizens are offered financial incentives to leave the UK, The Guardian has learned, months before the deadline for applying for settled status expires.
Since 1 January, EU citizens have quietly joined the government’s voluntary return scheme, offering financial support as an incentive to return to their home country.
Payments can include flights and up to £ 2,000 resettlement money. The scheme is designed to help some immigrants in the UK to leave voluntarily.
People working to help vulnerable EU citizens in the UK said the offer of money to return home contradicted the government’s claim that it was doing everything it could to encourage people to register for status. of settled. The deadline for Europeans living in the UK to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) is June 30.
Benjamin Morgan, who leads the EU Homeless Rights Project at the Public Interest Law Center, said: “It is clear from our case work that some of the most vulnerable EU citizens have not yet resolved their situation. Barriers to implementation and decision-making delays from the Home Office remain important factors.
“This mixed message about settled status on the one hand and voluntary returns on the other seriously undermines the government’s claim that the rights of vulnerable Europeans will be protected after Brexit.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Some people may choose not to obtain EUSS status and not wish to stay in the UK after the deadline. That is why we have written to interested parties to inform them that EEA citizens wishing to leave the UK may now be eligible for support to help them do so under the voluntary return scheme. “
The news came as an investigation by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JWCI) warned that thousands of key European workers were at risk of losing their legal right to stay in the UK.
The report, titled When the Clapping Stop: EU Care Workers After Brexit, warns that thousands of European citizens currently in key job roles in the care sector, as well as those working in construction, manufacturing and agriculture, are running the risk of losing your legal status. and removal of UK faces.
Of the 295 healthcare workers surveyed by the charity, one in seven was unsure what EUSS was, one in three had not heard of before contacting JCWI, and one in three did not know there was a date. limit for the settlement plan, or when. was. Most of the surveys were conducted between January and March of last year.
“If even a small fraction of the estimated EEA + residents (EU, EEA and Switzerland) cannot apply on time, tens of thousands will lose their status overnight,” the report states.
“Without urgent action, the care industry is likely to be devastated,” he adds.
The report calls for the immediate lifting of the deadline to apply to the EUSS, for European citizens to automatically obtain settled status and for an end to “hostile environment” policies.
It claims that workers in industries with poor conditions, low wages, and insecure contracts like care, construction and agriculture are particularly at risk of going through the cracks in the scheme. Those who cannot apply on time will be subject to measures including arrest and expulsion and could be penalized for working, renting a home or driving a car.
JCWI’s Chai Patel said: “Our research scares me because the people we spoke to were much less vulnerable than other hidden groups in exploitative working conditions, whom no one has been able to contact with questions. Despite warnings from us and many other experts, the Home Office is burying its head in the sand about this, just as it did with Windrush and making excuses rather than finding solutions. “
JCWI is not the only organization warning that some could slip through the net. The Migration Observatory has expressed concern about the risk that some groups may not register before the June 30 deadline.
Immigration Minister Kevin Foster said the JCWI report presented “an incredibly misleading picture of the EU settlement scheme” as it was based on “a small survey of less than 300 people conducted a year ago.”
“Since then, the scheme has received millions of applications,” he said. “We have received almost 4.9 million applications for the successful EU settlement plan. The deadline of June 30, 2021 is now less than six months away and I encourage all who are eligible to apply now to ensure their rights under UK law. There is a wide range of support available online and by phone if you need it and we are funding 72 organizations across the UK to ensure no one is left behind. “
