THEY are not aliens. They are our fellow human beings that live and work among us. They have made their home in Scotland as they were entitled to do as citizens of the European Union.
Now they are being treated as a second class, and the thousands who have been forced to apply for settled status because of Brexit have all suffered upset and misery.
Read the story of Heleen Kennedy and ask any pro-Brexit voter if this is what they wanted when they voted Leave in June 2016.
Kennedy, a former civil servant in The Netherlands, lives in West Linton with her musician husband Torcull. Heleen is Dutch and proud of it. She made her home in Scotland almost 16 years ago and is speaking out today to draw attention to what is happening with settled status.
She told The National: “I did not want to apply for settled status because I was still hoping that there would be a people’s vote, but when a No-Deal Brexit became a possibility, I had no choice.
“The personal impact of Brexit has been dreadful for me. I felt physically sick when the result of the Brexit referendum was announced and I suffered anxiety that led to health issues,” she explained.
I am angry and baffled that an internal conflict within the Conservative Party has put the country at risk and upset so many lives. The fact that so many people were anti EU nationals made me very sad even though 62% of the Scottish voters were in favour of Remain.
“Now the Home Office in London has complete control over the settled status process and humanity and even reasonable arguments don’t carry weight with them.”
The real problem came when Kennedy applied for settled status, having been told it would take 15 minutes. She was refused for "lack of evidence". The Home Office said they needed “proof” but couldn’t explain what it was they needed. Her advisor at the CAB also couldn’t get any further details from them. In the end it took 3 weeks before the Home Office eventually got in touch to specify what additional evidence was required and Settled Status was finally granted.
“It just makes you feel you are not welcome, that you don’t belong here," she said.
The Peebles Citizens Advice Bureau were “brilliant”, said Kennedy. “So was the information on the EU Nationals Support project from local MSP Christine Grahame earlier this year”.
But there’s another problem: “There is no guarantee and we don’t get a certificate, and anyone wanting to check your status has to go on to the Home Office computer – What if their server is down, or it gets hacked, or information gets accidentally deleted?
I regularly visit my family in the Netherlands. Would I still be able to get back to my home in Scotland - the place where my stepchildren, grandchildren, Scottish family and friends live?
“I will never apply for British citizenship, but I will apply to an independent Scotland.”
As The National has sadly had to report, Heleen Kennedy is just one example of the people for whom settled status has been a nightmare.
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