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OPINION: ‘We moved to Spain in good faith and we shouldn’t lose that right’

With less than 6 weeks until the general election in UK it's more important than ever for those who can to vote, argues Spain-based Debra Williams from the Brexpats Hear our Voice campaign group.

Published: 5 November 2019 17:13 CET

OPINION: 'We moved to Spain in good faith and we shouldn't lose that right'

Members of Brexpats - Hear Our Voice at a protest in London. Photo: BHOV

Whichever way I look at Brexit, I always come back to the same point.

It’s all about immigration and the misconceptions surrounding the topic.

In 1965, Max Frisch, a Swiss author, wrote the phrase: “We asked for workers and human beings came.”

He was referring to the mainly Portuguese and Italian so-called guest workers that came to Switzerland in the 1950’s and early 1960’s.

Time has moved on, but his phrase is just as important now as it was then.

Living in Spain is a blessing, heart-warming in fact. As a recent British immigrant to Spain, there has been a great big ‘welcome in the hillsides’ (yes, I’m Welsh), a warmth from the people that I’ve encountered that is endearing.

Do you think that Spanish people that move to the UK have the same welcome? It’s a rhetorical question, but I

do hope so, though I have heard of many examples to the contrary.

A global fundamental lack of knowledge about migration is often perpetuated by some media outlets, governments often categorising people by their net worth.

The good immigrant vs bad immigrant.

This applies equally to British living overseas. Official statistics suggest that there are 1.2 million British living in the European Union, (80 percent working age or younger) with 4.9 million British in total living across the globe (the biggest diaspora of all the European Union countries).

For a small nation with a large emigrant population you would expect our understanding of migration to be at a high level, but since the EU referendum in 2016 it is obvious that this is not the case.

Having the privilege of working with EU Citizens living in the UK on the In Limbo Project has been an eye opener.

Thanks to the founder of the project Elena Remigi, who had the original concept, we now have two books called In Limbo and In Limbo Too.

These two books document in their own words, the Brexit testimonies of human beings affected by Brexit.

They also are a fantastic reference about migration, in particular EU migration (Free Movement of workers).

The testimonies are heart-breaking in most cases, whichever way you look at it. That’s why many groups like mine are fighting to protect all the rights that we have legally exercised, for all of us.

Because, without a doubt they are under threat, let’s be clear about that, don’t bury your heads in the sand, face up to it and join the myriad of groups fighting Brexit and fighting for all of your rights.

You moved to Spain in good faith, believing that things would stay the same for your lifetime, why should you lose those rights.

I don’t want to, do you?

Now we have to face another General Election.

This is because the current UK government know they would never win an informed referendum on the subject.

Once again, those British citizens living abroad and who have been out of the UK for over 15 years will be disenfranchised as well as the EU citizens living in the UK, on a topic that directly affects their lives, it’s preposterous.

So those that can still vote, do so, research tactical voting sites, make sure you are registered to vote, go for a proxy vote if you can, rather than a postal vote, because time is of the essence.

Cast that vote, never has it been more important.

So, to all of you that have moved country, thank you. Thank you for having open minds, integrating, making friends, working, having global families. You enrich us all.

There are no good and bad immigrants, just human beings.

Debbie Williams, Brexpats Hear Our Voice

Castellon Province

Spain

Debbie Williams is ex WRAF and worked in aviation and ATC. She has lived in many EU countries and now lives permanently in Spain. She is the founder of the campaign group Brexpats – Hear Our Voice, Co-editor of In Limbo Too, an International Advisory Board member of the Brexit Brits Abroad research project and a Steering Committee Member of British in Europe.

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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and British in Spain felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of Jane Golding

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 5.5 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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