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LONDON — A total of 167 EU nationals were detained at the U.K. border in the three months after the end of free movement with Europe, according to government data.
Romania and Lithuanian citizens topped the ranking, with 28 and 18 nationals being detained between the end of the Brexit transition and March 31 this year, according to the Home Office’s latest quarterly figures on immigration released Thursday.
Other EU countries saw large numbers of citizens being detained at the U.K. border for immigration reasons, including Poland (14), Italy and Spain (13 each), Bulgaria (11), Hungary (9) and France (7).
Most EU nationals were held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near London Heathrow Airport, or in prisons. Of all the EU citizens detained in the first three months of this year, 58 percent were aged 30 or older, with the remainder aged 29 or under.
A total of 282 EU citizens were returned to their countries in the first quarter of the year, including some detained before the end of the Brexit transition. Of those, 131 spent at least a month in detention, either at immigration facilities or on bail.
The Home Office said the coronavirus pandemic has had “a significant impact” on the U.K. immigration system, by reducing the number of immigrants arriving in the country but also limiting the department’s ability to return those without the right to enter Britain.
The figures follow POLITICO’s revelation that EU nationals were being detained at the border post-Brexit. The Home Office acknowledged that “an increasing proportion of those entering detention have been recent clandestine arrivals detained for short periods for processing.”
The number of EU citizens being detained is small by comparison to non-EU nationals in U.K. detention. EU diplomats have raised concerns, however, that these numbers could increase as international travel resumes and EU citizens grapple with the U.K.’s new immigration rules. Cases reported by the media include EU nationals who tried to enter Britain without residence status or work visas, but also some who were wrongly detained after telling border officials they were traveling for a job interview — a circumstance that does not require any paperwork.
The Home Office has instructed border officials to grant bail to detainees for the remainder of the pandemic “where appropriate” in a bid to reduce the use of immigration removal centers following pressure from the European Commission, some EU countries and MEPs.
The data shows 94 EU citizens, or 33 percent, were granted bail conditions before being returned in the first quarter of the year, with bail being more commonly used in cases where detention lasted more than two weeks.
Overall, the number of people detained from around the world due to immigration reasons has been decreasing since reaching a peak in 2015, with nearly 13,000 entering detention in the year ending March 2021, the Home Office said. This represents a 44 percent reduction by comparison with the previous year, mostly explained by travel restrictions put in place to tackle the transmission of the coronavirus.
As of March 31, there were 1,033 people from all over the world in immigration detention, or 15 percent more than on the same date last year. Of those, 456 were held in so-called immigration removal centers, short-term holding facilities and pre-departure accommodation, and a further 577 at prisons.
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