Campaigners for the rights of EU citizens in the UK have predicted “utter chaos” in Britain after Theresa May vowed to stop freedom of movement for all Europeans coming to the country next March.
Activists in Europe campaigning for the rights of Britons said they were “horrified” by the prime minister’s statement in China on Wednesday, saying it showed she did not understand that everything she planned for EU citizens would have a reciprocal impact on 1.2 million British citizens in Europe.
“I think many of us, British living in Europe, are horrified at the ongoing abominable treatment of EU citizens in the UK. This will only contribute further to them and us being fair game for abuse,” said Debra Williams, the head of Brexpats, a campaign group based in the Netherlands.
Rights campaigners have been quietly furious over declarations in recent weeks by Conservative MPs, including Dominic Raab, that the deal on EU citizens has been done, when several issues are yet to be resolved including key points such as freedom of movement and family reunification rights.
Williams said: “She didn’t have to say anything right now, but chose to put the knife in just as negotiations recommence.
“And what of us? We are seemingly on our own and will have to take our chances, abandoned by the government of our birth country. Jointly we are over 4 million people who, through no fault of our own, have been relegated to the second or third division in the citizenship stakes and left to languish.”
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