Very few European retirees living in the UK have applied in time to be able to stay there after Brexit, raising fears that thousands more will be threatened with deportation, a parliamentary report noted on Friday.

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After the United Kingdom left the European Union, nationals of EU member countries, but residing in British territory, had until the end of June to submit their resident application, of which more than 6 million. But according to a parliamentary report released on Friday, only 2% of those claims were filed by people over 65, a percentage that is far from reflecting the proportion of European retirees living in the UK.

«The fact that only 2% of applicants are over 65 suggests that seniors may have been overlooked or simply couldn’t apply before the deadline.Said Charles Hay, chairman of the House of Lords committee on European affairs, responsible for writing the report.

The situation is “particularly concerning for Italian citizens who emigrated to the UK after WWII»Is it specified in this text? The residency application had to be done online, a disadvantageous maneuver for older people, who are often unfamiliar with new technologies, the associations warned. These have indeed been found “many people who do not have a cell phone, do not have digital access and inappropriate or nonexistent documents», Adds the parliamentary report.

Associations that help older people to apply have been campaigning for a long time to abandon the exclusively digital approach, also asking for a physical paper document to prove their status of residence, which is not currently the case. “Without a physical document, EU citizens living here may find it difficult to obtain a lease, for example», To souligné Charles Hay.

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Remembering that the British government had “welcomed the EU decision to issue a physical document to all UK citizens in Europe“The chairman of the European affairs committee asked the ministers to”explain this contradiction».