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# taz.de -- EU citizens in the UK: Falling through the welfare gap
> Exclusive taz investigation: European migrants who claim Universal Credit
> in Britain increasingly fail at a tough hurdle: proving their„residency“.
Bild: No longer at ease: Boarding the London service at Sofia coach station, Bu…
London taz | „They refused me social welfare three or four times. They
claimed I was not entitled claiming I was no a resident of the UK.“
Natasja, 39, the woman whose words these are, lives almost penniless in a
refuge in England together with her two children. The Dutch national
experienced domestic violence from men in different relationships twice
since coming to Britain nine years ago. Womens' organisations came to her
rescue.
In accordance with UK Law she would be entitled to Universal Credit (UC),
the new British social welfare payment, even though by her own account she
never continuously worked here long enough for entitlement under ordinary
rules because of what happened to her. However, for victims of domestic
violence there are special regulations. The administrators in the job
centre, which deals with applications for social welfare on behalf of the
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) nevertheless failed her several
times. Natasja is currently awaiting the result of a new claim she made
with the help of advisers.
Her case is one of apparently many in which citizens from the EEA (European
Economic Area) states – the other 27 EU countries, Iceland, Norway and
Switzerland – who live in the UK have failed, at least at the first
attempt, their applications for UC. The reason: They fail , the so-called
Habitual Residence Test (HRT) and are not classified as people who reside
in the UK with full and equal rights to social welfare.
HRT was supposed to protect Britain's welfare system from fraudulent claims
after the expansion of the EU. UK residents, unlike in other countries such
as in Germany, are not obliged to register with local or national
authorities upon taking residence; hence, they have to prove their
residence status on their welfare applications in other ways. In order to
be someone with residence status, applicants need to show real employment
(minimal earnings £155/wk) or must be genuine job seekers or have personal
or family relations with British citizens or other persons with permanent
right to stay. Those who have worked in the UK without a break for over
five years are considered to be equal to nationals in most regards.
Due to Brexit, a new registration system for the estimated 3.5 to 4.1
million EEA migrants in the UK has been developed: Settled Status (EUSS).
Migrants are able to register here for their permanent residence status and
can do so even via a phone app.
The application is free of charge, because an initial fee for this
registration was waived after protests. EUSS would probably allow Natasja
to apply for UC-social welfare without any difficulties whatsoever.
However, her Dutch passport, which she needs for the EUSS application,
expired some time ago. For a new passport, the Embassy of the Netherlands
asks for a fee of €136.16 (£126), plus a confirmation from the British Home
Office that she is not a UK citizen. This „NQ-Form“ comes with the hefty
price tag of £250. „Where shall I take so much money from?“, asks Natasja.
It's an apparent trap: Without the money she cannot get a new passport,
without a valid passport she is unable to secure her status in the UK and
apply for social welfare, nor can she travel to the Netherlands.
Such situations do not come without consequences. Natasja even attempted to
take her own life – not that officers in the UK were more sympathetic as a
result. „During one of my applications, I was bound to a wheelchair. They
told me that if I am really without means, they will take my child away and
into care because the child is British.“
In any country, it can be laborious and challenging for migrants to
assemble the necessary documentation required by government agencies. But
access to British social welfare benefits currently appears to be
especially hard. According to Malgosia Pakulska of the East European
Resource Centre (EERC), which helps East European migrants, 25% of her
service users were not receiving social welfare, for no other reason than
being wrongly classified as „non-resident.“
The British National Association of Welfare Rights Advisors (Nafra)
reported on these problems already in the name of its 260 member
associations to a parliamentary committee in February. It claims that UC
administrators often lack sufficient knowledge about residency regulations.
Usually they would not accept relevant documents, and they would not even
check internal information from their very own department which could shed
light on the prior history and possible entitlement of an applicant.
Besides, they note: „When social welfare is declined, then the file gets
closed, and, crucially, it is not permissible for applicants to then refer
to that file, even if it may contain important documents and evidence.“
In that way, even victims of human trafficking can be rejected for help. It
is easy to imagine what the result of such an attitude is: unnecessary
hardship – for no other reason but that those affected originated from EEA
countries. A few months ago, taz met the homeless 46-year-old Slovak man
Frank K. in Peterborough. A bag of the former delivery driver which
contained all his documents was stolen, he told us. Due to that, he was
unable not only to work anywhere but neither to claim UC or even Settled
Status. He slept in a tent in a park and fed himself from a soup kitchen.
„Universal Credit“ is not without its sharp critics quite independently of
the European dimension. It was meant to simplify social welfare in the UK
by bringing different elements of welfare together into one single system.
British nationals who have been moved from the former system into the new
UC system, not infrequently found themselves in worse circumstances than
before, due often to long waiting periods or more stringent assessments of
disability. Quite a few welfare advisers stated to taz, without wishing to
be quoted, that they believed this to be so almost by design – applicants
are expected to appeal for reconsideration of their cases. The success rate
of appeals is around 70 per cent, confirms Daphne Hall, the vice-chair of
Nawra.
The EU commission explains that EEA citizens have equal rights to local
citizens. Already in 2011 it warned the UK government against any
additional tests for EU citizens in order to claim social welfare. However,
the habitual residence test is an extra hurdle. Daphne Hall found: „Since
the beginning of the nationwide rollout of Universal Credit in 2017, and
especially during the last year, the caseload concerning such cases had
significantly grown, not least because previously agreed social welfare
credits were simply newly tested.“ Hall's experience is that the assessors
in the job centres are „specialists in measuring up social, physical and
mental conditions, but not concerning questions regarding the validity of
immigration status.“
One year ago the DWP, which administers Universal Credit, reported that 28
per cent of initial UC applications were rejected. One third of these, 9%
of all applications, were denied due to either failing the residence test
or due to access of applicants to personal capital. A further breakdown of
the figures was not given. Asked by taz, the Ministry stated that it was
unable to find any increase in UC appeals for HRT related matters. Daphne
Hall says that this does not counter her claims at all: „After requests for
reconsideration or calls, the cases are often checked by experienced
officers. They usually quickly rectify the false assessments before they
reach the stage of a statistically recorded hearing. „
Some persons will, however, accept the first rejection and do not attempt
to appeal. How many is anyone's guess. „When they nevertheless appeal, they
do not even have a guarantee of a deadline by when they can expect a case
to be reconsidered“, states Pakulska. She reports having seen people with
evidence that shows continuous work for over six years and income tax
receipts of over eight years who still get refused social welfare.
Justyna Mahon, who advises Polish migrants near Liverpool, wrote to taz
about a Polish migrant who under the old social welfare system was a
recipient of income support and housing support and who ended up being
rejected after he was switched to Universal Credit, due to the residence
test being wrongly applied. She says that he passed away due to cancer
before the result of his request for reconsideration came in.
Margaret Greenwood, Shadow Secretary for Work and Pension (Labour) calls
these reports shocking, as they suggest that DWP may be denying support
without good reason to citizens of other EU states who have made their home
here, contributed to this country and maybe brought up children. “It is a
major concern that DWP does not appear to have even used its own records of
people's employment history and previous claims in some cases, instead of
placing all the onus on them to have kept evidence like old payslips that
are easily lost.“ She notes that people could be pushed into debt and even
left at risk of destitution if their claim is delayed or denied due to
error. Citizens of other EU states who live in the UK must be treated
fairly, just like anyone else, she says and charges the Government with
failing in its duty if EU citizens are met with indifference or hostility.
The German Welfare Council in London, which advises Germans in the UK,
confirms that it knows of German nationals who have been falsely classified
as they have not applied for Settled Status. The „In Limbo Project“
director and book author Elena Remigi, who documents experiences of EU
migrants during Brexit, showed taz several anonymous statements from
affected EU migrants about falsely rejected social welfare, amongst them
Germans. „For some of the affected, we initiated crowdfunding when they
were left without heating or food for their children“ She recounts
unsuccessful attempts to raise the issue in the UK media. So far, there has
only been a short report in the Guardian, with no details.
EU member states' embassies in London were found to be not very aware of
the problem. The German embassy stated that it „had not received relevant
numbers about problem cases.“ However, it did mention that they were aware
of „vulnerable citizens, such as older people and people in remote areas,
also widows of British soldiers.“ Concerning EUSS applications, the embassy
added that „some people are possibly not aware of the fact that they have
to get active themselve, in order to make an application and not to end up
with the status of living in the UK illegally.“
To prevent this, the German Embassy has held over 35 information events in
different cities all over Britain. Of the estimated 126.000 to 300.000
Germans who live in the UK, according to records of the British Home
office, only 29.700 individuals have applied for EUSS. The Spanish Embassy
has also set up a particular unit for vulnerable and older citizens to help
them with EUSS. They report 1137 Spanish nationals who sought their help
for 7179 legal matters.
Of all the EU and EEA citizens in the UK, the number of persons who have
applied for EUSS is 909.300. In other words, three quarters of those who
should apply have yet to do so. 65% of 805.500 completed EUSS applications
were so far granted, while the remainder received pre-status, often because
the individuals concerned have not been in the UK for long enough.
The British Home Office is confident that it is sufficiently proactive. It
says it has made 1500 members of staff available to assist with EUSS
applications, including a „digital help-service“ at some 300 locations
throughout the country. Up to £9million are available to for 57
community-based and advice organisations throughout the country „to support
the approximately 200.000 most vulnerable EAA residents“. The Department
for Work and Pension emphasises meanwhile that there are no changes in
Universal Credit due to Brexit and that EUSS will eliminate all
uncertainties regarding eligibility.
Malgosia Pakulska remains unimpressed. „One of my service users is a person
who was initially rejected legitimately. He now has Settled Status, because
his partner has residency rights here. In spite of that, he was rejected
again. They were, it seems, not minded to investigate the submitted
documents properly. We appealed and are awaiting the results.“
Postscript: Shortly before publication of this article, Natasja received
her NQ form from the British Home Office – free of charge. She can now use
it to apply or a new passport. She can't quite believe this, after all
those bitter years of waiting. She thinks it could have something to do
with the questions taz raised, although her specific case was in fact never
mentioned.
15 Aug 2019
## AUTOREN
Daniel Zylbersztajn
## TAGS
Schwerpunkt Brexit
taz in English
Sozialhilfe
Europäische Union
Universal Credit
Schwerpunkt Brexit
## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA
EU-BürgerInnen in Großbritannien: Wer durchs Brexit-Raster fällt
Wer als EU-Bürger in Großbritannien Sozialhilfe benötigt, muss nachweisen,
dass er im Land „ansässig“ ist. Das dauert lange, manchmal zu lange.
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