British EU inhabitants barred from flights in article-Brexit ‘travel chaos’

Days soon after a “mutant” coronavirus strain ruined the Xmas options of holidaymakers on equally sides of the English Channel, Brexit pink tape and confusion has elevated hurdles for Britons making an attempt to return to their households in various European countries.



a person standing in front of a sign


© Phil Noble, REUTERS


Just after a vacation time by now dampened by the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit blues have kicked in early for Britons living in EU states that now regard them as “third-region nationals”. 

Above the weekend, a number of Britons expressed their dismay on social media after they have been barred from boarding flights bound for EU nations they dwell in. Other individuals have complained of complications accessing social benefits to which they are entitled.

Most issues included flights to Spain, residence to the biggest selection of registered Britons in Europe, even though the Spanish authorities claimed that the situation experienced been resolved by mid-Sunday.

British in Europe, an advocacy team representing Britons in the EU, explained identical challenges had arisen in Italy, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. It spoke of “travel chaos for Uk residents in the EU striving to return home”, and of violations of the Withdrawal Agreement guaranteeing the rights of British residents in the EU.

“Britons around the EU have encountered difficulties, with folks barred from flights or owning their passports stamped, even nevertheless they have valid Uk passports, EU home documentation and PCR exams,” the group wrote in a statement on Sunday.

The chaos will come amid stringent vacation restrictions due to a coronavirus variant that has been blamed for quicker contagion in the British isles. It has also highlighted the bureaucratic complexities triggered by Britain’s departure from the EU, compounding the frustrations of expatriates specifically affected by the effects of a referendum quite a few ended up not able to take part in.

Shed in translation

“The mix of the put up-Brexit transition expiring, the new coronavirus pressure and the conclude of the public holiday seasons has made a perfect storm,” stated Matt Bristow, a spokesman for British in Germany, British in Europe’s German branch, in an job interview with FRANCE 24.

Following the discovery of the coronavirus variant in the Uk, quite a few European nations have banned journey from the British isles besides for their possess nationals and Uk citizens with residency rights. 

On Sunday, Dutch border police noted that numerous British travellers experienced been refused entry after failing to offer an “urgent reason” to vacation to the Netherlands. “They all had a unfavorable PCR take a look at, but had forgotten the primary rule, that they have to have to have an urgent explanation to occur, these as do the job or critical relatives concerns,” a police spokesman explained to neighborhood broadcaster NOS.

But Britons who reside in EU nations around the world have faced equivalent obstacles amid confusion above the paperwork necessary to verify their residence. 

In a person these kinds of case, Britons attempting to board Lufthansa flights certain for Germany were being mistakenly instructed they ought to keep everlasting residence to journey, in accordance to the German department of British in Europe. 

“Why are @Lufthansa_DE continue to telling travellers that the #Bundespolizei have mentioned they can only enable those with long term home in [Germany] board flights? Uk citizens covered by the Withdrawal Agreement are authorized entry even without 5 years’ residence,” the group wrote in a Twitter post on Monday.

According to Bristow, the erroneous call stemmed from confusion between German officers and airline employees with regards to which procedures use to British nationals immediately after Brexit, coupled with selected German nuances remaining shed in translation. 

He pointed to other issues skilled by some Britons in Germany because the start out of January, which include bureaucratic obstructions to accessing unemployment or childcare rewards.

ID card backlog

Confusion over paperwork and terminology also brought on the disruption in travel to Spain, exactly where a new procedure to sign up overseas inhabitants is struggling a backlog due to the substantial quantity of requests. 

Madrid introduced previous year that British nationals resident in Spain would be given a image ID to change the current residency papers carried by EU nationals. Tens of hundreds have applied for the card, but numerous are waiting to acquire them owing to desire on the procedure.

In the meantime, the British and Spanish governments have mentioned that both of those the old International Countrywide Identification (NIE) doc and the new Foreign ID Card (TIE) are legitimate for travel.

Even with this, numerous Britons residing in Spain were prevented from boarding Iberia and British Airways flights to Barcelona and Madrid soon after the airlines claimed their papers were being no for a longer time legitimate.

Photographer Max Duncan, 1 of many travellers who was turned away at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, tweeted that British expats were “distressed as (they) can’t fly house”, owning been told their residence certificates no lengthier sufficed.

Iberia acknowledged late on Sunday that a conversation from Spain’s border police on January 1 experienced developed “some confusion” and that it was later on clarified. 

Spain’s Overseas Ministry spoke of “an isolated conversation challenge with some airways that impacted a very compact quantity of travellers”, assuring that air visitors in between the United kingdom and Spain was proceeding “with normality”.

Passport stamps

Some travellers who did make it through verify-in were being rapid to flag a further difficulty, noting that their passports were being stamped on moving into the EU – in breach of the Withdrawal Arrangement provisions.

In a written exchange with FRANCE 24, Kalba Meadows, a co-founder of France Rights, the French arm of British in Europe, said, “It does feel that the passports of Uk nationals returning to France are remaining routinely stamped, at lots of [if not all] entry details.”

She added: “This may possibly guide to problems additional down the line as moving into France with a passport stamp can indicate that 1 has entered as a visitor not a resident, which sets the clock ticking for the maximum time period of 90 out of just about every 180 times that a 3rd-place nationwide can stay in the Schengen location.”

Meadows mentioned her association experienced lifted the concern with the British embassy in Paris, noting that the issues seasoned by numerous travellers had been compounded by skeleton staffing at United kingdom embassies during the holiday season. France Rights has also posted comprehensive guidance for Britons in France, stressing that their passports should not be stamped if they are resident in France, have applied for residency, or can establish they lived in France prior to the Brexit changeover finished on December 31.

Passport stamps have also been reported at Germany’s major airports, introducing to the stress felt by British inhabitants previously fearful of the implications of Brexit, said Bristow.

“People are nervous about running into complications later on, about shedding certain benefits and legal rights,” he claimed. “They have all the correct documents, but there is a panic the concept is not finding through to officers at all govt amounts.”

Clarissa Killwick, who co-operates the “Beyond Brexit – Uk Citizens in Italy” fb page, documented very similar disquiet amid Britons in Italy. She cited media studies of at least just one British countrywide, a professor at the European College Institute in Florence, being barred from a Ryanair flight to Pisa because she could only deliver a paper residency doc in its place of a picture card.

“The detail is, we are in completely new territory as four-working day-previous third-country nationals, which is producing anyone come to feel quite jittery,” Killwick explained to FRANCE 24. “That mixed with the twists and turns of the pandemic is sending people’s pressure ranges via the roof.”