UK PM told to set cut-off date for EU immigrants

LONDON: An influential committee of the British Parliament has called for an immediate announcement about the future of nearly 3 million EU citizens in the country

LONDON: An influential committee of the British Parliament has called for an immediate announcement about the future of nearly 3 million EU citizens in the country following the Brexit vote, and suggested three possible cut-off dates.

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The idea is to reassure migrants who arrive in Britain before the cut-off date of their indefinite future in the country. Setting the cut-off date will avoid a surge in immigration, the Home Affairs Committee of Parliament said in its latest report.

Keith Vaz, chair of the committee, said: “The biggest issue relating to Brexit is migration. There is a clear lack of certainty in the government’s approach to the position of EU migrants resident in the UK and British citizens living in the EU. Neither should be used as pawns in a complicated chess game which has not even begun.”

Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to exit the EU, triggering a political storm that resulted in the exit of former premier David Cameron. UK is yet to start formal negotiations on the exit.

Prime Minister Theresa May has reassured EU migrants in UK but has not confirmed their indefinite stay, linking it to the fate of nearly 1.5 mn Britons living in EU countries.