Falling through the gaps: the EU Settlement Scheme and the case of Roma communities in the UK: Report on an All-Party Parliamentary Group event held on the 17 November 2020

Roma communities are established members of the population in the United Kingdom (UK) and have also arrived as part of the broader movement of European nationals from across the enlarged European Union (EU). Whilst their motivation to travel to the UK shared many characteristics with their non-Roma counterparts, such as employment and education, their migration was often punctuated by pre-migration experiences of discrimination and marginalisation whilst in their countries of origin. The persistent exclusion, discrimination and marginalisation that Roma have experienced has been well documented and has been repeatedly shown to shape their settlement in the UK.

Over two years ago, in July 2018, a special joint roundtable of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gypsies, Travellers and Roma was convened in order to discuss the impact the UK’s withdrawal from the EU would have on Roma communities. The report that followed recounted the views from a wide range of participants of the issues faced by Roma communities, with particular respect to the then-emerging EU Settlement Scheme. In November 2020 a second roundtable was convened by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gypsies, Travellers and Roma to re-examine the EU Settlement Scheme and the progress made on engaging with Roma communities. Once again, this event brought together parliamentarians, academics, civil society, public authorities and expert members of the public, including a number of Roma people, and consisted of presentations from a panel followed by questions and contributions from the audience.