EU Citizens Stand Up For Scotland: An Open Letter

  • by: Anonymous
  • recipient: European Parliament, European Commission, Council of the European Union, EU Citizens

The UK government is failing to engage with Scotland and other devolved administrations in the Brexit process.
We EU Citizens in Scotland, and our friends & family Europe-wide, call upon the EU to hear Scotland's concerns.

This petition stands as an Open Letter to the EU, and to our fellow EU citizens.
Scotland remains European, in its actions and aspirations, while its people and parliament are ignored by Theresa May, David Davis, and a chaotic UK government lurching ever further right.

We simply ask that you listen, when the UK government will not.

__________________________________________________________________

Dear EU,

We are EU nationals living, working and contributing to the Scottish and UK economy, culture, and society, just as our counterpart UK nationals are doing in the EU27. Some of us have called Scotland our home for several decades and span generations of interwoven and diverse European families. Others are more recent residents of Scotland, following the European ideal of cross-national community, camaraderie, and mutual prosperity. We are united in bonds of family and friendships across the British Isles and mainland Europe, and we have ALL been heartbroken by the Brexit vote.

We feel rejected by the UK, whose government has stripped us of any sense of security over our rights, homes, jobs, and most importantly, our families and futures. For over a year we have lived in a state of limbo and uncertainty - the lack of progress in negotiations has caused many of us severe distress and anxiety and taken a heavy toll on our mental health. With each xenophobic headline, "erroneous" deportation letter, "leaked" policy proposal document, and suppressed taxpayer funded report, we see the depths to which the UK government will sink. We have become bargaining chips and have been reduced to second class citizens, while the UK creates a system of institutionalised discrimination against both EU and non-EU migrants. Furthermore, the political regression underway, in the shape of the impending EU Withdrawal Bill and the controversial "Henry VIII clause", is alarming for ALL residents of the UK, regardless of nationality, and threatens the hard-won devolution settlements of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, potentially diminishing the rights of all.

However, as residents of Scotland, we must tell you that despite the limitations of our Parliament's powers, we feel there is greater political and public support for us than our fellow non-UK EU nationals have been shown elsewhere in Britain. Not only did the people of Scotland vote by 62% to remain in the EU, but we also have a devolved Scottish Government who have shown us repeatedly that we are welcome here, through words and actions - for example, in their efforts to ensure our continued franchise in Holyrood elections. Even in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, the cross-party cooperation in our Scottish Parliament demonstrated their resolve to do all they could to protect Scotland's relationship with the EU, and their direct and sincere statements that EU nationals are welcome here filled us with hope.

As non-UK EU nationals we have come to love Scotland as our home, and we know that the majority of Scots have come to love us too. In this country, full of awe-inspiring landscapes, vibrant cities, incredible natural resources, progressive society and a rich internationalist culture, we find the people of Scotland to be our natural European brothers and sisters. For this reason, we band together, across dozens of nationalities, European and more, to support Scotland's journey towards self-determination. It is our hope, and the hope of many Scots, that we may yet see an independent Scotland take its own seats in the European Parliament.

We understand the political sensitivity you must exercise. But as non-UK EU nationals, caught up in a chaos not of our making, we simply ask you to listen, when the UK government will not.
Listen to our concerns for our rights, for our families, for our futures in Scotland - a country which, despite the situation it finds itself in, we do not feel let down by. Listen to our concern for the future relationship of Scotland and the EU, and for the circumstances it finds itself in, potentially unable to protect the democratically expressed wishes of its electorate. And listen to our fellow EU citizens, in Scotland and across Europe, who know as we do that Scotland is, and will always be, European.

Sincerely,

EU Citizens for an Independent Scotland (approx. 39,000 supporters),
and as undersigned

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