Thousands of Bulgarians facing deportation from Britain over Brexit

More than 15,000 Bulgarian citizens have been denied residence

Brexit could end in deportation for thousands of Bulgarians living on the island. The deadline to settle their status in the UK expires in three weeks.

Certainly, after July 1, Bulgarians who cannot prove their right to live in Britain will have serious problems.

To date, 258,000 Bulgarian nationals have received permission to continue living, working and studying in the Kingdom. 15,000 were refused. The situation raises fears of mass deportation of Bulgarians after July 1, bTV reports.

After this date, schools in the UK are required to notify the Home Office if they suspect that students or their parents are not allowed to live on the Island.

Another problem is the fact that this year the personal documents of tens of thousands of Bulgarians expire. According to our ambassador in London Marin Raykov, administrative services for nearly 200,000 Bulgarians, as much as the population of Burgas, are provided by the available only 10 employees in the consular office of the embassy. The first free hour for replacement of documents in the service is after 6 months.

Citizens from central and eastern Europe most vulnerable to deportation in post-Brexit Britain.

Racism towards citizens from the poorest Member States influenced Britain’s pre-Brexit deportations and could impact post-Brexit practice, warns the BRAD project.

CEEU citizens were most targeted, partly due to their negative image, and because they often couldn’t afford immigration lawyers.

“There was a representational pattern in the pro-Leave media of the ‘Vile Eastern European’ – the criminal coming to the United Kingdom from the ‘new Member States’, who is a threat to public security and moral order with his innate criminality,” says research fellow Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna. With support from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, Radziwinowiczówna analysed pro-Leave and pro-Remain British press, Polish media, deportation regulations and policy.