New rights watchdog to survey post-Brexit fears of EU nationals – EURACTIV

The citizens rights watchdog set up to protect the rights of EU nationals living in the UK is conducting its first survey to understand the level of public concern about living in Britain after Brexit.

Kathryn Chamberlain, the chief executive of the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens Rights Agreements (IMA), said on Monday (1 February) that the IMAs survey was one of a range of intelligence-gathering exercises we are carrying out to protect citizens rights.

I want to hear from as many people as possible. Their responses, along with the complaints we receive, help us to build a bigger picture of the issues facing EU citizens, Chamberlain added.

The IMA was set up in January under the terms of the UKs Withdrawal Agreement with the EU at the end of the UKs post-Brexit transition period. Its chairman is Ashley Fox, a former Conservative MEP.

The watchdog is responsible for addressing complaints from EU citizens living in the UK who feel that their rights are not being upheld.

Around 5 million EU nationals have applied for residence in the UK under its new Settled Status scheme. Of those, 97% were offered settled status, which grants indefinite rights to remain in the UK, or pre-settled status, which offers a five year stay, which the option to apply for settled status at the end of it.

The UK government says that the Settlement Scheme is more generous than that offered to Britons by many EU member states but research by a series of campaign groups has suggested that thousands of EU citizens are either unaware of the settled scheme or do not know how to access it.

For its part, the UKs Home Office says that it has a dedicated team of more than 1,500 people working on the EU Settlement Scheme.

However, the system has had many teething problems. The Home Office does not have clear data on precisely how many EU nationals are living in the UK. There has also been confusion over whether citizens with pre-settled status enjoy the same rights to welfare benefits such as universal credit and housing benefit as those with settled status.

A ruling by the UKs Court of Appeal in December confirmed that those with pre-settled status must be treated on an equal basis with other claimants.

We are receiving increasing reports that EU citizens and their families are having difficulty acquiring and proving the rights they are entitled to, said Maike Bohn, Co-founder of the3million, a campaign group seeking to safeguard the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.

[Edited by Frdric Simon]

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New rights watchdog to survey post-Brexit fears of EU nationals - EURACTIV