Scrap EU Settlement Scheme deadline to support vulnerable children, organisations urge
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
A coalition of organisations supporting vulnerable children are calling on the government to lift the deadline for applications for settled status in the UK.
The deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) which grants EU citizens living in the UK the right to continue their stay after Brexit is currently 30 June.
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Some 45 organisations working with vulnerable people, including care leavers and looked-after children, have warned that sticking to the deadline would “leave tens of thousands of EEA+ citizens undocumented, vulnerable to exploitation and facing Hostile Environment policies including detention and removal.”
In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the organisations, including Coram’s Legal Centre, Asylum Welcome and Citizens Advice, have say they have so-far supported “250,000 vulnerable EEA+ citizens to apply to the EUSS” through £21.5m government funding.
However, they warn that even without the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, more time and funding is needed to reach the most socially isolated and vulnerable EU citizens living in the UK.
Research from the Children’s Society, cited in a letter, found that of 3,543 identified EU looked-after children and care leavers, just 39 per cent have submitted applications to the EUSS, and only 28 per cent have secured their status
A Home Office survey run between February and April 2021 found that 33 per cent of identified looked-after children had not yet made an application to the EUSS, the letter states.
Recent Home Office guidance surrounding late applications states that it plans to take a “benefit of the doubt” approach to those who do not apply for EUSS by the deadline.
“Historically the Home Office has taken a very stringent approach towards “reasonable grounds” and outlines in this guidance that the approach towards late applications will become stricter with time, which raises serious concerns about how this ‘benefit of the doubt’ will actually be applied to vulnerable people,” the letter states.
The coalition is calling for urgent action to scrap the deadline, adding: “This is the only way to ensure that all our European friends, neighbours and the people we support can continue living their lives lawfully in the UK.”
