Some EU citizens living in Britain who decided to seek permanent
residency after the Brexit vote are being told to make arrangements to
leave. A number of these people are among the 31,000 EU academics
currently working in UK universities. Colin Talbot
says many are alarmed and some have already decided to leave – putting
the expertise of Britain’s universities in serious jeopardy.
“The UK’s university sector is one of our most valuable national
assets,” Prof Brian Cox, the University of Manchester academic and TV
presenter, told me last week. He argued that UK higher education “is a
genuinely global industry generating billions of pounds in export
earnings, one of the necessary foundations of our innovation-led economy
and perhaps our strongest soft power asset; political and industrial
leaders from all over the world were educated here in the UK.”
Which makes it all the more strange that the government should be –
whether accidentally or deliberately – undermining them. Most of
the Brexit commentary about UK universities has concentrated on issues
of funding, research cooperation and students. Much less attention has
been paid to what keeps universities running – academic staff – and what
Brexit will mean for the 30,000-plus EU academics in the UK.
I arrived at a meeting a couple of weeks ago and noticed one of my academic colleagues was visibly distressed.
When I asked what was wrong, they said they’d just had a very
alarming letter from the Home Office. Having lived and worked here for
more than two decades (they’re a national of another EU country) they
decided to play it safe after the Brexit vote and apply for leave to
remain. Big mistake.
They received a threatening letter from the Home Office saying they
had no right to be here and they should “now make arrangements to
leave”. The letter was obviously wrong – they had every right to be here
under existing UK law – but that didn’t lessen the emotional impact for
my colleague, whose whole future was suddenly thrown into uncertainty.
I had read similar stories in the press, and wondered how many other
academics might be affected, so I turned to Twitter to ask for any
similar experiences. The tweet I posted asking for examples was
retweeted – mostly by concerned academics – over 1,000 times. People
started writing to me with cases and I began digging into the issue.
The first thing that struck me was the level of fear, anger and
disgust – and in some cases resignation. I have disguised individual
cases – that’s because few people are willing to speak openly, such is
the degree of fear about what might happen after Brexit.
The impact on individuals
Some EU academics (along with others) who have been living and
working legally in the UK for years decided, after June 23, that they
should try to cement their position by applying for one or other of the
various routes to permanent residency. The procedures are daunting and
of Kafkaesque complexity – one form runs to 85 pages and requires forms
of proof that make acquiring Catholic sainthood look simple. As a result
many applications are failing – but it is the form of the rejection
that is causing much concern. A typical letter from the Home Office says
(in part):
“As you appear to have no alternative basis of stay in
the United Kingdom you should now make arrangements to leave. If you
fail to make a voluntary departure a separate decision may be made at a
later date to enforce your removal…”
This appears to be a fairly typical ‘prepare to leave’ letter,
variations on which have been sent to “failed” applicants – even though
they are currently here perfectly legally.
Even more worryingly, the decision on whether to accept or
reject these applications is based on the “Nationality, Immigration and
Asylum Act 2002 and Regulation 26 of the Immigration (European Economic
Area) Regulations 2006”, to quote the letter again. The latter will be
repealed in the Great Repeal Bill planned by the government, which could
rescind any ‘right to remain’ granted under existing law and
regulations.
Brian Cox sums up the situation very well when he told me:
“We have spent decades – centuries arguably – building a
welcoming and open atmosphere in our universities and, crucially,
presenting that image to an increasingly competitive world. We’ve been
spectacularly successful; many of the worlds finest researchers and
teachers have made the UK their home, in good faith. A few careless
words have already damaged our carefully cultivated international
reputation, however. I know of few, if any, international academics,
from within or outside the EU, who are more comfortable in our country
now than they were pre-referendum. This is a recipe for disaster.”
Another academic colleague said: “As an academic I’m embarrassed and ashamed of [the] UK governments’ stance on EU citizens.”
One academic told me: “the Home Office is hedging its bets because we
non-UK [academics] are now effectively hostages …”. A neuroscientist
from the EU at a top UK university reacted with defiance: “For what is
worth, I refuse to apply for a piece of paper [leave to remain] that I
don’t need and won’t be valid after Brexit – when current law says I
don’t need it. It’s just a certificate. They can stick their 85-page
form up their arses.”
The level of anxiety is obvious: “I’m about to submit my permanent
residency application. Any pointers from the rejections you’ve seen so
far? Scary times ahead…”. Another said: “as an Irish citizen I am
assuming the Ireland Act will continue to provide my right to be here.
But… “
A policy specialist from Oxford said “people have been turned down
for administrative reasons alone. The Home Office looks for any reason
to say ‘no’ at the moment.” Or as another, retired, academic puts it,
this is just “inhuman bureaucracy” at work.
How representative is all this? A
recent survey of academics
conducted by YouGov for the University and College Union (UCU) found
that an overwhelming majority (90%) said Brexit will have a negative
impact on UK higher education. Three-quarters (76%) of non-UK EU
academics said they were more likely to consider leaving UK higher
education. A third (29%) said they already know of academics leaving the
UK, and over two-fifths (44%) said they know of academics who have lost
access to research funding as a direct result of Brexit.
The impact on universities
UK universities are heavily dependent on academics from the EU. To
cater for our global audience we need to attract the brightest and best
and Europe is, unsurprisingly, a major source for such talent. Over
31,000 UK university academics come from the EU – sixteen percent of the
total (all figures calculated from the Higher Education Statistics
Agency data for 2014/15).
But this national figure underestimates just how important EU
academics are to our top-rated universities. The London School of
Economics has 38% EU academic staff. Other prominent London colleges –
Imperial, King’s, University College London – have between a quarter and
nearly a third. Oxford has 24% and Cambridge 22%. My own university,
Manchester has 18% and most of the Russell Group of ‘research
universities’ are in the top ranks of EU academic staff employers.
EU academics are equally important in the core subject areas that are
vital to our long-term economic health. So areas like physics (26%),
chemical engineering (25%), biosciences (22%), chemistry (21%) and IT
(20%) are all heavily reliant on European talent.
So what?
Our global status isn’t, of course, just dependent on EU academics –
UK experts are our bedrock (70%) – but the other 30% that come from the
EU and the rest of the world are an important part of our global status.
Losing this talent – whether through demoralisation or deliberate
design – would have catastrophic effects. As Brian Cox puts it:
“Ministers must consider our global reputation before uttering
platitudinous sound-bites for domestic consumption, and think much more
carefully about how to ensure that the UK remains the best place in the
world to educate and to be educated. [UK Universities] are everything
the government claims it wants our country to become; a model for a
global future.”
“The current rhetoric is the absolute opposite of what is required.
The UK appears, from outside, to be increasingly unwelcoming and
backward looking”.” They should be even more careful about the policies
they enact and the way they are implemented...
More at:
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2017/01/27/eu-academics-britain-told-to-leave/
