IN THE NEWS HuffPost The Guardian Metro Politics.co.uk Other After 3 years of Brexit limbo for EU citizens, I’m falling out of love with this uncaring EU Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 20 June 2019 Where is our home now given that we have been effectively abandoned by both the place we live in and the place we come from? Denying EU citizens their vote is an abysmal moment in Brexit Britain. It cannot stand. Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 24 May 2019 The government now stands at a crossroads, and the first step they must take is to expand full voting rights to every permanent citizen in the country. I’m an EU national, and this is how Brexit has hit my mental health Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 16 May 2019 I used to say that I have a teflon skin, but since the referendum I’ve experienced everything from unprecedented stress to online threats to being followed. A year in post, Sajid Javid’s ‘fair and humane’ immigration system seems a long way off Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 30 April 2019 In his first year as home secretary, Javid has only shown a tendency to repeat the mistakes of the Windrush scandal in his roll-out of the EU registration scheme. Brexit has normalised what is not normal – and EU citizens are the first victims Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 10 April 2019 That the government of a European country is not only contemplating no deal, but actively choosing to make it a real possibility is one of the greatest derelictions of duty we have ever seen. We EU citizens are pleading Europe to rescue our rights in the event of no-deal Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 21 March 2019 With over 1,000 days in limbo, the five million EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the EU have had enough. We are appealing to the heads of state of the EU27 to ensure that we retain international protection of our rights, even in case of no-deal. The UK has finally made EU citizens’ rights a priority after Brexit – now it is the EU’s turn to do what is right Tanja Bueltmann & Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 28 February 2019 The unanimous passing of the Costa amendment by MPs marks a crucial watershed in the fight for EU citizens’ rights in the UK. Now EU leaders must make the same commitment. MPs have no excuse not to end uncertainty for EU citizens in Britain – and our citizens abroad Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 22 February 2019 In a responsible society five million people cannot be sacrificed on the Brexit altar. The future of EU citizens in the UK has never been more uncertain – politicians must take action or forever be remembered for failing millions Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 18 February 2019 For over 965 days now we have been one of three things – often all three together: bargaining chips; a punching bag; and subjects of hate. Scrapping the settled status fee for EU citizens is positive, but not enough Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 23 January 2019 It is critical that we do not lose focus – waiving the fee does not take away the problems with the application process From today, EU citizens in the UK will be forced to pay to apply to stay in our homes Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 21 January 2019 For millions of Europeans like me, today is a difficult watershed moment – settled status will no doubt create a new Windrush generation EU citizens have been failed time and again. With only precious few days left to make a change, will the UK finally stand up for us? Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 7 January 2019 EU citizens remain in the place they have been since 2016: right at the centre of the storm, but with no representation and no shelter in sight. This is the last Christmas before EU citizens’ rights fall off the cliff edge – we must not let them Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 25 December 2018 As the year comes to a close I am desperately trying to find some words of hope. But I am afraid this year the reality is that I really cannot find them anymore. The government’s post-Brexit plan isn’t sound policy, it’s dangerous ideology Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 19 December 2018 With a proposed income threshold of £30,000 for skilled migrants, the White Paper sets out a bleak picture for the future of UK immigration. This week’s Brexit developments have yet again produced a perfect storm of problems for EU nationals Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 7 December 2018 In many ways all of this has been an integral part of daily life for EU citizens in the UK since the referendum. What makes it extraordinary now is that over two years have passed and nothing has changed. May can apologise for calling EU citizens ‘queue-jumpers’, but our trust in the PM is broken Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 27 November 2018 The only way for EU citizens in the UK to feel reassured is not for May to regret the queue-jumping comment, but for all her promises to us to become legal certainty. Theresa May’s Brexit fightback is just another opportunity to vilify EU citizens like me Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 19 November 2018 In less than a week, our Prime Minister has reduced us from ‘valued citizens’ to ‘queue-jumpers’. That is not only shameful, but also intensely worrying. Theresa May’s Brexit deal has killed off any hope that EU citizens’ lives will remain the same Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 15 November 2018 Negotiators on both sides have failed to protect what they have always claimed was their first priority. EU citizens being forced to prove their right to work after Brexit shows the endgame for us has come Tanja Bueltmann, HuffPost, 31 October 2018 I thought that I had now seen it all. That we had reached rock bottom in terms of how low the UK government would be prepared to sink – I was wrong. A record number of EU citizens left the UK last year, and I understand why Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 8 August 2018 Front page after front page told me it was people like me, immigrants, who caused all the ills of the UK. Hostile environment 2.0: Why EU citizens and Open Rights Group are taking government to court over data protection Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 18 May 2018 There are now few alternatives left other than taking the government to court. With one year left, EU citizens and their families need certainty about their rights Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 29 March 2018 Ask yourself: how would you feel if this happened to you? EU citizens are sick of begging to be part of a society that doesn’t really want us Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 22 February 2018 To attract and retain the brightest and best the UK needs to create a welcoming environment. By not allowing full freedom of movement Theresa May will create two Classes of EU citizens Maike Bohn & Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 1 February 2018 The UK government is adding to its – and our – woes. Is that it? EU citizens like me have waited 18 months for ‘sufficient progress’? Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 8 December 2017 “Today is not a relief or reason to celebrate for me, the opposite is true. My future looks bleaker than ever.” This is just one of many worried messages I have received today. The agreement on ‘sufficient progress’ is a flawed compromise and no life-long guarantees for citizens’ rights. The long and winding Brexit road: EU citizens help turn a corner Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 16 November 2017 Over five million people’s lives are currently frozen in time and space. It is telling that the only solution that would protect them does not come from the British government or the EU but from the citizens themselves. Return to sender – The letter to the 3 million EU nationals Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 19 October 2017 Theresa May reiterates that EU nationals will be able to stay. For many EU nationals like me who have lived in this country for decades, a promise not to be deported is an affront rather than reassurance. EU citizens’ rights, wasting time climbing a molehill Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 28 September 2017 Here we are, 15 months post referendum. As Michel Barnier said, the clock is ticking. This is the last chance to move on to the next stage of negotiations, progress is vital. Extending free movement – One big muddle but no more certainty Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 1 August 2017 Whatever the new arrangement is called and whatever it entails though it does not deliver on what the government is hoping to achieve: certainty for employers. Far too little, far too late – Assessing migration of EU nationals Axel Antoni, HuffPost, 27 July 2017 There is great uncertainty among our members. The new report will not help to reduce this but is increasing the worries about the UK negotiating with limited information on what environment we need to convince the 3.2 million not to leave. EU citizens in limbo Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 23 June 2017 The government has kept us guessing for a year. Lives are on hold. People have lost faith in the government after many u-turns by politicians who promised our lives wouldn’t be affected by the referendum outcome. What A Time To Have No Voice Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 30 May 2017 One of Europe’s oldest democracies is in trouble. We need nuance, grownup debate, compromise, rather than a binary “you lost, we won” attitude. Standing up for EU citizens’ rights Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 4 March 2017 The vote in the Lords restored some much-needed sanity to the debate about EU citizens’ rights. It finally gave a public, and a political, voice to three million people who couldn’t vote in the referendum and have been feeling speechless ever since. ‘This is not your country’ – Identity and nationalism post-Brexit Maike Bohn, HuffPost, 5 December 2016 Brexit has triggered an identity crisis. For me and my fellow three million EU citizens living in the UK it has cast a shadow over our entire lives. Five million EU and UK citizens have spent 1,000 days in limbo. It has to end. Tanja Bueltmann, The Guardian, 21 March 2019 I have seen the impact Brexit’s uncertainty is having. The EU must protect citizens’ rights – it is a question of basic humanity. Javid’s post-Brexit settlement plan does nothing to reassure EU citizens Tanja Bueltmann, 21 June 2018 Far from providing comfort, the scheme for EU citizens in the UK leaves dozens of our questions unanswered. The shameful Windrush saga has struck fear into EU nationals’ hearts Tanja Bueltmann, The Guardian, 17 April 2018 The government has shown itself to be incompetent and untrustworthy. EU citizens in the UK are in danger too. EU citizens are only Brexit collateral now Tanja Bueltmann, The Guardian, 27 February 2018 Tory hardliners cheered a fall in net migration from Europe, despite it causing harm – while we remain ignored, in limbo. The Tories tell us the rights of EU citizens are now secure. It’s a lie. Tanja Bueltmann, The Guardian, 8 December 2017 As an EU national, I take no comfort from today’s report on the progress of Brexit negotiations: we are still being shabbily treated and our futures remain in limbo. I’m an EU citizen in the UK. Theresa May’s offer leaves us in limbo Tanja Bueltmann, The Guardian, 27 June 2017 The government could have made concessions over our status, but proposals including special ID cards are pushing some to consider leaving altogether. We knew EU citizens could be stopped from voting, yet those with power did nothing Tanja Bueltmann, Metro, 23 May 2019 A part of me had been dreading the day of the European elections. Not because of the likely success of the Brexit Party nor the prospect of a divided Remain vote. No. The reason a part of me was dreading today is that I knew two weeks ago what we are seeing confirmed now: that probably thousands of EU citizens have been denied their vote. It’s the day we were meant to leave the EU and I no longer feel safe Tanja Bueltmann, Metro, 29 March 2019 In the time that has passed since the referendum took place in 2016, one thing has continuously stood out to me – the failure of politicians and commentators, both in the UK and the EU, to grasp the severely negative impact Brexit has already had on millions of people. Scrapping the EU citizen settlement fee doesn’t magically make us feel part of British society again Maike Bohn, Metro, 22 January 2019 Scrapping the fee removes one of the hurdles to make settled status a success, but in many ways this is a symbolic gesture and not enough to help 3.6 million people to get back to a semblance of normality. Settled status will create the new Windrush generation in EU citizens Tanja Bueltmann, Metro, 29 December 2018 Settled status, if rolled out as planned, will create a new Windrush generation in EU citizens. We now have the confirmation of that in black and white. Faced with the immigration white paper, I’m not sure I would have come here Alexandra Bulat, Metro, 19 December 2018 I came to the UK at 18 to study. I did not receive my university offer because I owned a burgundy EU passport. My unconditional offer was sent after I met a range of criteria, such as achieving the required grades in the Baccalaureate and IELTS English test. As an EU citizen in the UK Brexit has redefined my identity and this deal failed me Maike Bohn, Metro, 15 November 2018 While the Westminster bubble is in a complete frenzy about the proposed Brexit deal, five million people are applying their own test to what has been achieved over the past two years. My value as an EU migrant in Britain has been proven – it’s time to stop the lies Maike Bohn, Metro, 18 September 2018 As an EU migrant, I have had many accusations thrown my way. From ‘you take all our jobs’, to ‘you increase NHS waiting times,’ and ‘you just come to claim benefits’. The UK needs migrants of all skill levels, not just the brightest and best Alexandra Bulat, Metro, 29 August 2018 Since the EU referendum, Theresa May has insisted that the UK will still ‘attract the brightest and the best’ EU migrants. Brexit has turned my life upside down – EU citizens need proper assurance we will be safe Maike Bohn, Metro, 22 June 2018 Ahead of the second anniversary of the UK’s vote to leave the EU the Home Office has produced some answers but left many questions unaddressed. Brexit extension: The EU just condemned migrants to seven months of ‘flexible’ uncertainty Tanja Bueltmann, Politics.co.uk, 12 April 2019 Flextension was a sensible compromise in a time of constant crisis. But from the perspective of EU citizens in the UK and our British friends in another EU country, it is a flextastrophe. The ‘faceless bureaucrats’ of Brussels stood up for our rights while England’s defenders of liberty hung us out to dry Monique Hawkins, 5 September 2018 This articles examines the very different attitudes displayed towards citizens’ rights campaigners by EU negotiators and UK government ministers respectively. EU migrant numbers are falling because Brand Britain is damaged Maike Bohn, Politics.co.uk, 20 August 2018 Brand Britain: the fall in the number of EU migrants is no cause for celebration. ‘You’re safe here … until you’re not’: EU citizens in the UK are fighting for their rights Tanja Bueltmann, Politicis.co.uk, 2 August 2018 This article explores the situation of the 3.7 million EU citizens at home in the UK and the development of the EU Citizens’ Champion campaign. May’s plans for EU citizens strip them of their rights Nicolas Hatton, Politics.co.uk, 31 July 2017 We’re not asking for special treatment. All we are asking is that the rules of the game are not changed after the match has started. The Electoral Commission has effectively disenfranchised EU citizens. Now it must make amends Maike Bohn, LSE Brexit Blog, 8 May 2019 Thousands of EU citizens will be effectively disenfranchised at the European Parliament elections on 23 May, thanks to a little-known rule requiring them to fill out an extra form in order to vote. Hostile teaching on EU migrants is gravely failing British schoolchildren Tanja Bueltmann, The Big Issue, 7 February 2019 A creeping trend of anti-immigrant educational material is worming its way into the curriculum, portraying EU migrants as outsiders and criminals. These examples are not just failures in the teaching of migration, but also wider attitudes, and wider ignorance, towards the situation of EU citizens at home in the UK. Citizens’ Rights – the dishonesty around Free Movement is Brexit in a nutshell Monique Hawkins, The Brexit Blog, 31 December 2018 A fundamentally dishonest debate around immigration and free movement has resulted in the vote to leave, the removal of rights from five million citizens, and will either ensure a bad Brexit if Brexit goes ahead, or will make another referendum just as divisive and poisonous as the last. The Brexit absolution is coming — and we must stand up to it Tanja Bueltmann, Bella Caledonia, 29 December 2018 The fallout from leaving the EU, a policy Brexiters are all about, is one they must own. No ifs. No buts. No cherry-picking. Queue jumpers of Europe, unite! What it’s like to feel like a stranger in your own home Tanja Bueltmann, Euronews, 27 November 2018 Let’s face it, forcing EU citizens in the UK to apply if we want to stay, after having heard our Prime Minister say that all we are is a bunch of queue-jumpers, is not a sign of being wanted. First bargaining chips, now stocktaking: the plan to register EU citizens Tanja Bueltmann, LSE Brexit Blog, 22 June 2017 EU citizens living in the UK will reportedly be asked to register in ‘a first step towards regularising’ their legal status post-Brexit. But the purpose of this move is unclear. Abused in the street, invited to a Brexit BBQ: the limbo of being German in the UK Tanja Bueltmann, LSE Brexit Blog, 7 March 2017 Politicians have chosen not to oppose the wave of xenophobia sweeping across the country, but to indulge those Leave supporters who want to cherry-pick who stays and who goes. The tolerant UK I love seems to be vanishing Tanja Bueltmann, THE, 16 June 2016 You may say ‘the referendum isn’t about you’, but it is. German-born historian Tanja Bueltmann on her watershed moment.
