Laws governing their status are a “patchwork” that could fall apart under post-Brexit political and practical pressures, says the report, which comes before Monday’s launch of a campaign urging the UK government to pass legislation that would guarantee the longstanding rights of Irish citizens.
The document, drawn up by legal experts on behalf of the Traveller Movement(TM), concludes that many of the rights currently enjoyed by Irish nationals in the UK exist only because they are EU citizens. It warns that the Irish might be caught up in the so-called “hostile environment” policy on migrants that Theresa May originally created when home secretary, and which critics say is increasingly affecting a much wider range of people. The report highlights a range of scenarios that could arise if the UK ends the special rights of EU citizens without making new legal provision for the Irish. These include exclusion from free NHS treatment, cash benefits and certain social welfare payments.
The lack of clarity on the status of Irish nationals could also make the British citizenship of their children unclear, warns the document.
“The British government has consistently promised that Brexit will not weaken the situation of Irish citizens in the UK, or the movement of Irish citizens to and from the UK. Yet it has not made public how it will deliver on this promise,” said report author Simon Cox, a leading migration lawyer and barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. “A close look at current British laws shows a patchwork that may fall apart under post-Brexit political and practical pressures.” [...]
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