Tanja Bueltmann is a citizens’ rights campaigner and founder of EU Citizens’ Champion.
An EU citizen herself, Tanja, like the 3.6 million EU citizens who made the UK their home, is immediately affected by Brexit and by the upheavals it has brought – for both EU citizens in the UK, and Britons who live in other EU countries. For her, for all 5 million people immediately caught up in Brexit, it is intensely personal.
Forced to apply to stay in our own home? Shameful doesn’t get more shameful than that.
While Tanja continues to campaign for the safeguarding of citizens’ rights in the way promised by Vote Leave, the Prime Minister and the EU, she recognises the importance of working with the provisions set out in the Withdrawal Agreement: if Brexit goes ahead, the agreements reached therein are problematic in many ways, but they do provide some certainty that is desperately needed. That is why Tanja supports the future plans of the3million that centre on outreach for EU citizens to ensure all are well-informed about settled status, and monitoring the Home Office.
Tanja wanted to do more to support the3million because it is not acceptable that much of their work is still carried primarily through volunteered time. That is how the idea for the #EUcitizensChampion campaign was born. EU citizens need further support to ensure their rights are protected. They need champions to help with that. And the3million need funds to keep doing their amazing work. Tanja is not formally involved with the3million, but recognizes the group’s crucial role as the leading not for profit organisation formed after the EU referendum to protect the lives of EU citizens who made the UK their home.
To learn more about why Tanja founded this campaign, read her article ‘You’re safe here … until you’re not’: EU citizens in the UK are fighting for their rights.
Tanja has also written for The Guardian, HuffPost, Metro and the THE among others.
Campaigning is only one part of Tanja’s story, however. In ‘normal’ life she is a Professor of History, with a specific focus on diaspora and migration history, at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne. So in professional terms too Tanja has an interest in Brexit.
Articles and interviews
“Com o Brexit a UE mostrou que ser cidadão europeu significa nada”, Diario de Noticias, 11 May 2019
Gekommen, um zu bleiben, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 21 April 2019
Die Angst, zum einfachen Ausländer degradiert zu werden, Die Welt, 7 April 2019
“Dass wir EU-Bürger so unter die Räder kommen, habe ich nicht erwartet”, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 15 December 2017
You can follow Tanja on Twitter @cliodiaspora
This morning I am thinking of Christa.
This is Christa's story.
Yesterday Christa was #DeniedMyVote
Imagine you wake up one day after nearly 60 years of living in the UK and the day ends with news of #WithdrawalAgreement that confirms that, if Brexit goes ahead with that deal, you will have to prove your right to stay in your own home. You'd be #AlreadyNotFine. Like Christa. 1/
I see that many people are calling #DeniedMyVote an emerging scandal. It's a lot worse than that:
- it's a scandal we knew was coming
- it's a scandal @ElectoralCommUK & @theresa_may *chose* not to prevent even though they could have
That is the worst thing about it all.
It’s worth noting that it was @joannaccherry from @theSNP who gave it a final try to prevent #DeniedMyVote a day before #EUelections2019. Thanks to @theresa_may’s choice to not engage, to not put emergency measures in place, she unfortunately failed. But thanks again for trying!
The number of EU nationals who appear to have been denied the vote today is a scandal. These are people who live and work here. This is their home and they had as much right to a vote as any of us. Serious questions need to be answered. #DeniedMyVote
I have to say this is one of the things that really shook me about #DeniedMyVote. There are so many stories exactly like this one: EU citizens eligible and registered to vote seeing their crossed-out names on the register, unable to cast their votes. Devastating. https://t.co/zathWHBe2X
A very misjudged statement here. It basically officially tells us EU citizens that we are not at home in the UK. I am genuinely lost for words. Given your role in triggering #DeniedMyVote in the first place @ElectoralCommUK I expected some reflection from you. But no. Shameful. https://t.co/AlwZSQ06jS