Absence of certainty on Brexit migration issues, says Committee

The Home Affairs Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons published its first quarterly report of 2016 scrutinising the work of the Home Office Immigration Directorates in July 2016.

Amongst the topics highlighted was the implications of the UK leaving the EU in the next few years.

The Home Affairs Committee said the immigration directorates especially UKVI must be prepared and resourced to deal with the heavy extra demands that will be placed on them by the fallout from Brexit. Post-Brexit attempts to limit non-EU migration, and the uncertainly over migration within Europe during the exit negotiations, could both lead to a surge in immigration.

The Committee says EU citizens resident in the UK and British citizens living and working in Europe must not be used as 'bargaining chips' in the Brexit negotiations, and Government must move quickly to establish certainty over their status and the new rules on free movement – if they change significantly. EU citizens living and working in the UK, and UK citizens living in the EU, need certainty on where they stand in relation to the UK leaving the EU. The report offers the government three possible cut off dates.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Impacts of immigration on population and the economy http://www.europeansources.info/record/impacts-of-immigration-on-population-and-the-economy/

ESO: Background information: The 'EEA minus' option: amending not ending free movement http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-eea-minus-option-amending-not-ending-free-movement/

The Economist, 26.07.16: Reducing immigration could strain Britain’s public services further http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21702650-nhs-may-escape-worst-less-sensitive-public-services-might-struggle-reducing

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: How do EU people in the UK feel about Brexit? [The EU Referendum, 23 June 2016. The United Kingdom and the European Union. The results. Reaction of EU Citizens in the UK] http://www.europeansources.info/record/how-do-eu-people-in-the-uk-feel-about-brexit-the-eu-referendum-23-june-2016-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union-the-results-reaction-of-eu-citizens-in-the-uk/

UK: Parliament: House of Commons: Library: Briefing Paper, No.7675 (02.08.16): Brexit and UK immigration and asylum policy: a reading list http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7675

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