The former Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna has called on Leave campaigners now serving in the Government to ensure that EU citizens already resident in Britain are guaranteed the right to remain.
Mr Umunna is chair of Vote Leave Watch; a new campaign group dedicated to holding Vote Leave campaigners to account for promises made during the referendum campaign, and has launched a petition backing the rights of EU migrants in the UK.
"The citizens of other European countries are human beings like the rest of us," he said. "It is a disturbing sign of the times that that needs to be stated.
"But with the Government refusing to rule out changes in status for EU citizens who currently live here in Britain, it’s more important to emphasise than ever. That’s why we’re fighting to ensure the Government guarantees the right to remain, and the right to equal treatment, for EU nationals living in the UK,” he said.
Throughout the EU referendum campaign, Vote Leave campaigners, including the now-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, constantly pledged that brexit would not affect existing EU migrants living in Britain.
But so far Prime Minister Theresa May has stopped short of guaranteeing this status, a move that has been described as using foreign nationals as a "bargaining chip", which also puts at risk the status of the more than one million British nationals living abroad within the EU, including large numbers of retirees in Spain.
Mr Umunna said: "Shamefully, since the referendum result, David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, is talking of a “cut-off” date, after which EU citizens living here could be summarily sent home. Needless to say, Mr Davis did not say anything about this during the EU referendum campaign.
"This is different to debates about how to manage future immigration. It is perfectly legitimate to believe future numbers should come down. But it is wrong to argue that people who came to Britain before the referendum in good faith, who work here and contribute to our country, should be sent home.
"The government’s apparent position is that they need European citizens in Britain as a bargaining chip to ensure protection for Britons living in Europe. But the government should not be using people as bargaining chips in this way – they are human beings, not pawns.
"The more than two million European citizens who live in Britain are our friends, neighbours and work colleagues. In many cases they are our relatives, partners, wives, husbands. They all have a right to work, a right to live, and a right to a family life. No civilised government should even contemplate meddling with that in these circumstances.”
Mr Umunna also highlighted the contribution to the UK economy made by EU migrants. More than 1.5 million British people are employed in businesses founded by migrants.
He added: "If the government will not do what is right themselves, they must be pressured into it. That’s why I want to you sign this petition to force the government to commit to defend the rights of EU citizens in Britain. With your help, we can force the new Conservative government to do the decent thing.”
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