Tomorrow: European Movement Day of Action

Just a quick note: if you should have some time tomorrow (5 August), go and have a look (or even better help!) at the street stall that the local European Movement group has organised. They are gathering at the Buttercross in Winchester at 10am for a couple of hours!

More info about the European Movement here:
http://www.europeanmovement.co.uk/

Fancy a gathering in town?

Updated to make clear that this is a gathering only (not a march):

We have decided that in September we would like to gather in town with flags (EU and/or Union Jacks) and friends! Fancy coming along?

Sign up by clicking on the flag, the link will take you to our Facebook event page.

You can email the image to your friends to invite them too - download here!

More events can be found on our Events page!

Have a great summer, everyone!

Finally we have the last presentation from the Law Forum in May

Sorry, it took so long but we finally have all of the presentations uploaded as PDFs. You can find them on the Resources - HampshireWelcomesEU event page. The information given there is valid as long as the UK is still a member of the EU.

As you know Brexit negotiations are ongoing and nothing has been decided as of yet about what will be the rights and status of EU nationals in the UK and UK citizens in the other EU member states after March 2019. If you should have any questions regarding whether you should obtain Permanent Residency now or wait with applying for a new status after Brexit, please contact us and we will try to point you to the right places to find answers.

Claire Bradley at the 14 May event

Upcoming marches

Can I draw your attention to a couple of marches that are being planned in September and October. Please attend them if you can! Please also keep an eye on our events page for other upcoming activities!

People’s March 4EU Saturday 9 September 2017 Park Lane, London	See details in the Facebook event post. Help with the funding of the march!
StopBrexit National March Manchester Saturday 1 October 2017 Manchester	See details in the Facebook event post.

Our forum about the rights of non-British EU citizens provided great insights!

First of all, we were absolutely blown away by the interest in our event! We had set up chairs for 80 participants but they just kept coming and coming, and at some point we had to get extra chairs to seat them all. In the end, there were around 110 people in the Winchester Rugby Club ready to listen to our experts!

The many questions to our panel and the long queue of individuals waiting to speak with our advisers clearly showed that there is a great amount of uncertainty about EU laws and rights in people's minds, and also about what the UK government is allowed to do and what not. British EU citizens who attended felt the event was a real eye-opener, as they had no idea of the complexities our non-British EU citizen fellow residents are facing.

Our MC Paul Williams took us through the programme:

• Jane Rutter, Mayor of Winchester, provided the welcome note saying "Winchester’s residents are generous and welcoming to people from other communities, cultures and countries. We value diversity in all its forms, and I believe that our lives are the richer for it."
• The first presentation was about the protection that the EU laws provide to all EU citizens living in one of the EU member states. Claire Bradley (Managing Director, European Law Monitor) made it very clear that while the UK is still part of the EU all laws are still in place for us and any digression should be fought against and communicated to the appropriate EU bodies who will then assist.
• Three EU citizens living in the UK (Abby Dank, Sylke Krämer, and Kerstin Reiners) gave testimonials, highlighting how different each case can be and which worries each of them had. 
• The second presentation went into more detail about what steps might be necessary to gain permanent residency in the UK and possibly British citizenship. This was done by Marta Beltran (Immigration Adviser, Citizen Advice Bureau).
• Finally we had a panel to answer questions from the audience, where Professor David Owen (Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton) joined Claire Bradley and Marta Beltran.

Claire Bradley

Marta Beltran

Both presentations were quite enlightening to those who had never looked into the ins and outs of EU free movement laws and British immigration laws. They were packed with detail and links to find further information and help, and we have posted them on this web page. 

Our audience was very appreciative of the opportunity to ask questions and we could have easily filled another hour with just that but unfortunately our time was limited.

BBC South were filming

Here are some comments our visitors left for us:
"Really good to meet others in the same situation. Thank you for organising."
"Information was thought provoking and supportive."
"Very informative."
"Great to have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the experts"
"It was so comforting"
"Great to get everyone together, lets do it again"
"The speakers were brilliant! Thank you!"

As this event was entirely organised by volunteers without support from any organisation, we asked for donations. Our attendees were generous and we were able to cover the cost for the room and some other expenses, thank you! A report will be added to the website.

Many thanks go to all of our speakers and presenters and also all of the people who helped to put this together: Barbara Knight; Frank Endrullat; Hywel Thomas; Jo Thomas; Kerstin Reiners; Martin Ingram; Rob of Rob’s Oven; Sarah Evans; Susie Nicodemi; Sylke Krämer; Yvonne Mercer.

A special thanks for attending also to Stéphane Guegan who provided us with info and leaflets about the3million, which is a lobby group for all EU citizens in the UK.

What will happen now?

We will send out some email communications soon, hopefully providing some more answers on questions left with us on Sunday or at least point our attendees in the direction of where they can get these answers.

For those who would like to stay in contact via social media, we have closed Facebook groups for Win-IN and local The 48% groups, and both are active on Twitter too. There are also closed Facebook groups that are dedicated to permanent residency and citizenship questions. Links can be found here.

Let me end with a quote from Kerstin Reiners: “The biggest challenge facing the 50,000+ non-British EU citizens residing across Hampshire right now is that people around us are unaware of the uncertainty, fear and anxiety that is dominating our lives. Our rights have not been guaranteed. We need talk about how this is affecting us, and we need to be heard. This Forum represented a first step. There is much more to be done.”

-------------------
Sylke on behalf of Win-IN and The 48% - Winchester

(All photos by Stéphane Guegan and Sylke Krämer)

Forum: Hampshire Welcomes EU!

The 48% - Winchester group is inviting you to take part in an event for EU citizens and pro-Europeans.

The Hampshire Welcomes EU! Forum is designed to provide clarity on EU citizens' rights until the UK actually departs from the EU, and the challenges and pressures facing EU citizens at this time. The aim is to bring EU citizens and pro-Europeans together, to be heard, and to fight for their rights.

What:	Forum: Hampshire Welcomes EU!
When:	Sunday, 14th May 2017, 7:00pm-8:30pm (close by 9pm)
Where:	Winchester Rugby Football Club, North Walls Park, off Hilliers Way, Winchester, SO23 7SU
Cost to attend:	There is no cost to attend, but attendees will be asked to kindly provide a donation.
Registration:	https://hampshirewelcomeseu.eventbrite.com

Welcome:

• Jane Rutter, Mayor of Winchester

Speakers:

• Claire Bradley, Managing Director, European Law Monitor
• First-hand EU Citizen Case Studies
• Others (TBC)

Benefits of attending:

• Gain insight into:
  • EU law as it affects individuals and families
  • EU law as it relates to businesses
  • Steps that are being taken to address where the UK has infringed on EU law
• Understand the Permanent Residency and Citizenship application demands and challenges
• Hear stories and realities first-hand from EU Citizens
• Participate in Q&A with a panel of experts
• Meet likeminded people, partake in interesting conversations, and make new friends
• Understand the steps we each need to take to be heard, and why it matters

Why:

While the Home Office website confirms, "there has been no change to the rights and status of EU nationals in the UK as a result of the referendum", the implication that the government will be pursuing a "hard Brexit" means that future immigration and free movement from residents of EU countries to the UK are likely to be curtailed at the very least.

Unfortunately, a by-product of the June 2016 Referendum and on-going Brexit preparations has been a rise in xenophobia and hate crime. Employers appear confused about what they can and can't do concerning EU nationals. And while EU citizen's legal status remains unchanged, the rights of EU citizens beyond Brexit have not been guaranteed. As a result, EU citizens resident in the UK have become concerned for their future, and are seeking Permanent Residency and Citizenship.

Hampshire, in particular Winchester and Southampton, is home to more than 50,000 EU citizens. Both are pro-European cities. In Winchester, the majority voted to remain in the EU.

Constituents across Hampshire have urgent, time-sensitive questions and concerns. Brexit is causing a great deal of turmoil, uncertainty and worry, especially with regard to the position of EU nationals, their families and the single market.

The aim and outcome of this meeting is to create a lobby of EU citizens resident in Hampshire to seek help and assurance that this county will support them in three ways:

1. Keep EU citizens safe and treat crime fairly
2. Educate employers
3. Assist with more difficult Permanent Residency and Citizenship cases

While this is a free to attend event, we would appreciate a small donation at the door to help us cover costs. Thank you!

Families welcome!

Refreshments available from the bar.

General elections on 8 June

Not only have we got the local elections approaching quickly, we have now also learnt that there will be a general election on 8 June! To vote in that you need to be registered by 22 May. Simply visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote to do so. Migrants Organise has a good summary of voting rights and important dates.

If you have a local notice board nearby why not download and print this poster (PDF) and have it displayed there!