The expulsion of “Maria” and 2,000 Spaniards rejected in the United Kingdom

The UK is full of 'Marias' who cannot return home due to Brexit. The case of the 34-year-old Spanish designer and veterinary student, who was unable to join her husband and dog in Bedfordshire and was evictedEcho on a plane in the middle of Christmas, is the last on the “blacklist”. More than 2,000 Spaniards He received a “door slam” in the face upon entering British territory.

And in 2021, a year in which cases rose dramatically, Another “Maria” (Valencia, 25 years old) She went through the ordeal of being held for five days in an alien detention center because she went to London “to look for new job opportunities”. He showed the authorities his National insurance numberTo prove that she actually worked in the UK, but that was not enough and for all purposes it was taken as a illegal immigrant”..

In the same year, Eugenia, a 24-year-old Basque woman, also traveled to London for a job interview. She showed her her return plane ticket and explained that her intention was to return to Spain to apply for a visa if they eventually hired her. Her cell phone was confiscated and she spent the next 24 hours locked in a room at Gatwick Airport. He was forced to sleep on the floor. She was put on a plane back to Barcelona the next day.

And not just Marias and Eugenius, And also “Sylvanas”Like the Italian mother married to a British man who discovered that her “residence card” that allowed her to live in London since 2008 was no longer valid. She had no choice but to file a late application for “settled” status. To her surprise, Sylvanas discovered that the law had changed, and she could no longer take advantage of her “lack of knowledge,” therefore He faces deportation. She claims that throughout the entire process she felt like a “criminal.”

There was another, bloodier case that also emerged in December, as a precursor to Maria's case: Italian-French Leonarda Zarcone74 years old, he returned from a trip and received news of this He “lost the right” to remain in the country where he had lived for more than half his life (And where he worked his ass off with his little fast food restaurant in Leicester). She claimed in her defense that she had requested a “settled” status, but the email in which they requested more information ended up in her “junk” folder. His son David's exemplary efforts to finally solve the case made major headlines.

It is estimated that some 142,410 cases of late submission Of what is called Stable mode They are on the waiting list of the Ministry of Interior. One of them in particular is the recent case of Maria whose case came to light guardian It even provoked the intervention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albarez: “I want to think it's a specific event and let's say wrong.”

“Maria” He returned to London on 26 December After visiting his sister near Malaga, who had just become a mother. Upon admission, she showed a Certificate of Application (CoA), which she says states she is authorized to work in the UK “until there is a response” (her case was initially dismissed in June for lack of “sufficient evidence” and she filed an administrative appeal).

At customs control at the airport LutonHe had the misfortune of meeting the same border agent who had objected to him upon entry on a previous occasion. The other time he was able to pass after a short consultation with a colleague, but this time he was frank. “You're wasting your time,” he said.. They confiscated her cell phone, forced her to spend the night at the airport, and the next day they returned her to Spain on the first plane.

“If I try to come back it will be worse.”

Maria said in her speech: “I could have told them that I am a tourist (with the right to stay for up to six months in the country), but I am not and I have nothing to hide.” guardian. “I was going to go back to my job, but now my life is in vain. “All my possessions were in the UK: my dog, my car… I was studying to become a veterinary nurse, which was my dream, but if I tried to go back it would be worse.”

Maria, who prefers to hide her true identity, is going through a “very stressful” situation and preferred not to create any more media hype until her case is resolved. He lived for himself in the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2018, when Temporarily settled in South Africa For her husband to complete his Ph.D. The pandemic delayed his return and complicated his desire to regularize his situation.

More than 3.6 million EU citizens in the UK are recognized as 'settled' and 2.7 million are classified as “already settlers” – With the right to upgrade status after spending five years in the country. Once the technical problems were overcome, the digital system worked relatively smoothly, until June 30, 2021, when the panorama changed.

“After Brexit, EU citizens are treated as suspects.”The group's spokeswoman denounced it The 3 million. “The large number of European citizens being refused entry to the UK speaks volumes. The Home Secretary continues to subject EU migrants to a hostile environment.”

The 3 million Puts numbers on the table to denounce “disproportionate” treatment: About 17,000 EU citizens will be rejected in 2022While only 1,270 Britons were banned from entering the 27 European Union countries. In the same year, the Spaniards ranked fifth, after the Romanians, Bulgarians, Poles and Germans, practically tied with the Portuguese and slightly ahead of the French.

Of the total number of “rejected” Europeans, It was 755 Spaniards in 2022, compared to 532 in 2021. And only 34 in 2020, which explains the astonishing jump from year to year, and a return to “the hostility created by Brexit.” In the absence of final data. In the first three months of 2023, the doors were closed to 490 Spaniards.

“The number one priority for Border Force “It is to keep our borders safe,” said the Interior Ministry’s brief response to Maria’s case. “Officers can stop a passenger for further screening when they are not immediately satisfied that they have the appropriate qualifications to enter. This decision is made based on the information provided by the passenger, not on their nationality.”