EU families & Eurochildren in Brexiting Britain

Thousands of children of EU parents at risk of falling through the cracks of Brexit, University of Birmingham research reveals

Thousands EU citizens and their family members living in the UK under EU law are at risk of ‘falling through the cracks’, with their rights of future residence in question after Brexit, Eurochildren researchers say. In two Eurochildren Research Briefs published today on the impact of the UK-EU agreement on residence and citizenship rights for…

Windrush generation is not alone – children of EU citizens could be next

by Nando Sigona, University of Birmingham Theresa May, the UK prime minister, and Amber Rudd, home secretary, have both apologised for the distress caused by the treatment of the so-called “Windrush generation”, in the face of mounting pressure from MPsand the wider public. Having been accused by the Home Office of residing in the UK without authorisation, these Commonwealth-born,…

Being patriotic, European and cosmopolitan

by Michal Siewniak* This week my eldest daughter, Maria, had a non – uniform day. All children had an opportunity to express themselves. They all did that in many different ways. Our Maria decided to wear Polish top and Croatian scarf. Her mum comes from the Croatia whereas her dad is Polish. She was really…

Poem on belonging: A Traveller’s Lodge

A Traveller’s Lodge By Natalie Dunn Seized by twofold darkness: Two stools, one fallen, an empty room. The place I live in with a lost girl from Christchurch and a bewildered beauty from Boston who is making some Chinese tea. The French lady forfeited her accent somewhere, she is not looking. The farmer from…

You can’t have an integrated society in a hostile environment: Diary of an EU citizen in the UK (34)

The UK Government’s strategy is not for an integrated society, focusing on what government and society could and should do, but for integrated ‘communities’, code word for everyone else. After a bit of fanfare, a couple of catchy soundbites and a few top-line proposals leaked a day or two before the release, the Department of…

Is David Attenborough the solution to mass migration? Diary of an EU citizen in the UK (32)

Facts seem to have become a disposable commodity these days. We are going through a phase of evidence-free policy making and post-truth politics, known in Trump’s America as fake-newsism. “I will call an expert!” has replaced the bogeyman as parents’ favourite to frighten children into good behaviour. Tory ministers and MPs dismiss any evidence (from…

Recasting ‘us’ and ‘them’? Short video about the project

Originally posted on Postcards from …:
Divorcing after over 40 years of marriage – even if a slightly difficult one, partly of interest, partly of necessity – is never easy. Freedom of movement has allowed millions of people to move from one country to another and with it have come friendships, relationships, new families being formed…

Hairy moments: Diary of an EU citizen in the UK (31)

Originally posted on Postcards from …:
It all finished with a laugh. “I already have a jacket and spectacles like yours, Nando. Need to work a bit more on the curly hair though”, H. said enabling everyone around the table to take a breath and move on from the conversation. But how did we get there?…