EU seeks answers as 141,000 lose rights in Britain

The European Union wants former member the United Kingdom to explain why 141,000 residency claims made by EU citizens were abruptly denied.

Maros Sefcovic, the bloc's Brexit commissioner, told ministers from the EU's 27 member nations this week he was intervening, the Financial Times newspaper reported.

Sefcovic said the 141,000 had their online applications for the "right to remain" updated from "pending" to "rejected" last month. Many had been waiting for a decision from the UK's Home Office since June 2021.

The EU citizens were among millions who applied for the right to continue living in the UK after the nation decided to leave the bloc. Most had moved to the UK while it was a member of the EU, which has freedom of movement between member nations that guarantees people can live and work where they choose. But, as the UK neared its exit from the bloc three years ago, the EU citizens were told they had to apply for permission to stay on. They were assured that the process would be, more or less, a formality.

Sefcovic took up the case after ministers from EU member nations Belgium, Ireland, Poland, and Romania all raised the issue.

An unnamed EU diplomat told the FT: "Welfare payments will now cease and some may have to pay back money. The risk of these people plunging into poverty is high. It will be a total surprise to them that they no longer have the right to live in the UK."

The UK did grant the right to remain to more than 5.5 million EU citizens. The sudden rejection of the 141,000 applications was highlighted on Jan 27, by the Independent Monitoring Agency, the UK watchdog that oversees the rights of EU citizens in the UK.

Benefit payments

The agency told the FT: "Potentially, 141,000 people continued to enjoy rights to which they were not entitled, including receiving benefit payments."

It said it was looking into whether the online EU Settlement Scheme, through which they made their applications, was "fit for purpose, maintained, and audited".

The Home Office confirmed: "The online digital status for some EU Settlement Scheme applicants who were refused status has been updated in line with the decision taken on their application, which had already been communicated to the individuals concerned."

The government department said it would work with the EU "to ensure the situation is managed quickly and pragmatically" and the EU said it would ensure "the protection of the rights and the wellbeing of EU citizens in the UK".

The Associated Press said the situation may have been caused by an error at the UK's Department of Work and Pensions, which meant the status of rejected applications was not updated in a timely manner.