Brexit remains ‘open wound’ for EU citizens living in UK | Brexit

A study of EU citizens living in the UK has revealed the “open wound” left by Brexit, with respondents saying the decision to leave the bloc had left them feeling betrayed, insecure and distrustful towards the country that most nonetheless still call home.

The survey of EU nationals from 22 countries, who had mostly been in Britain for more than five years and stayed since Brexit, showed “a profound and lasting impact on the lives and sense of identity and belonging of EU citizens in the UK”, the authors said.

“The public narrative may suggest that Brexit is done and dusted, and everyone has moved on,” said the report’s main author, Prof Nando Sigona of the University of Birmingham. “But for EU citizens, Brexit remains an open wound.”

The study, EU Citizens in the UK after Brexit, showed that rebuilding trust in British institutions and politicians would be challenging when “the ramifications of Brexit still have such profound consequences” on EU citizens’s lives, Sigona said.

Respondents saidThe Brexit referendum had significantly impacted their perception of Britain. 72% felt an emotional attachment to the UK but 89% did not. said their opinion of the country had changed – 68.6% by “a great deal” or “a lot” – since the 2016 referendum.

Asked to provide three words summing up what Britain means to them, many nonetheless offered terms such as “home” and “love”, reflecting the residual strength of EU nationals’ ties to the country they had made home, the report said.

However, positive responses were outweighed by words such as “disappointment”, “betrayed”, “sadness”, “frustration”, “anger”, “unwelcome” and “disgusted”. The majority of negative sentiment was echoed in the survey’s free-text responses.

“I was at home here,” saidA Dutch man, 43. “Since the referendum … people still ask me where I come from and when I go home, but those questions have lost their innocence.” Another Dutch man, 40, said: “I moved here as part of the same philosophy; now feel that common idea is gone and I feel like an immigrant.”

Others said Brexit had changed their view of their country of origin: “I feel more German and more attached to Germany since 2016,” saidA 45-year old German woman in the UK

Many of the 364 respondents compared their views of their country of birth to their perceptions of post-Brexit Britain. “Hope my country of origin will never become as unfair and xenophobic as the UK is now,” saidA French woman, aged at 62.

Strikingly, Brexit also appears to have proved “a real trigger for pro-EU sentiment”, Sigona saidMore than 90% of respondents said that they feel at least moderately attached since Brexit. Words offered in support of that sentiment included “belonging”, “peace”, “freedom”, “unity” and “movement”.

A 52-year old French woman returned to France after having been married for 52 years said she “took the EU for granted before Brexit” but was “now aware of how precious it is, even if not perfect”. A 44-year-old Italian woman said she “never used to pay much attention to what the EU stood for or what it did” but now “defends it from the lies peddled in the press”.

Unsurprisingly, the 96-question survey – carried out between December 2021 and January 2022, a year after the end of the transition period – found most of the settled EU citizens in the UK, often part of multi-generational households, planned to stay. More than half of the respondents had permanent legal status, and 30% had dual nationality.

Of the about 30% who had changed countries since the referendum, the main reasons cited were family or partner (25%), Brexit (17%), work (16%), and study (14%) – with “Brexit” covering a multitude of emotional, political and practical considerations.

Among respondents in the UK, however, even if a majority had settled status or UK citizenship, immigration status and residency was an overriding concern, with the different status of various family members – including parents or grandparents in the EU – affecting family relations and shaping future plans.

It was also feared that settled status would be digital-only and not have any paper proof. “Given the lack of trust in UK immigration authorities, a lot of people still don’t feel secure,” Sigona said. “They are also worried about not being able, for example, to care for relatives outside the UK.”

A 64-year-old woman who was born in France and has lived in the UK for more 40 years said: “I can barely express how hurt I am. I arrived in the UK in 1979 to work in the NHS. I feel betrayed, unheard and uncared-for. Anxiety began to plague me. I decided to apply to Britain for citizenship. I did not want to be British but to be able to sleep at night again. When I got my British passport, I spat on it.”