Defend the rights of EU citizens

by Tahmid Chowdhury

Defend the rights of EU citizens

by Tahmid Chowdhury
Tahmid Chowdhury
Case Owner
I co-founded the charity with my friend Bella to empower EU citizens. They deserve security and certainty from the country they call home, and we're striving to ensure they can stay Here for Good.
Closed
on 05th September 2018
£2,475
pledged of £25,000 target from 40 pledges
Tahmid Chowdhury
Case Owner
I co-founded the charity with my friend Bella to empower EU citizens. They deserve security and certainty from the country they call home, and we're striving to ensure they can stay Here for Good.

Here for Good was founded by two young law graduates who wanted to stand up for the rights of vulnerable EU citizens. Now they’re asking you to stand up too.

In the aftermath of the EU referendum, Tahmid and Isabella researched through the night to see what free immigration advice was available to EU citizens. What they found was shocking: there were 35,000 EU citizens for every legal centre. Realising the Government wasn’t going to prioritise securing the rights of these citizens, Tahmid and Isabella set out to do it themselves.

Since that night, Here for Good has been committed to one simple goal: empowering EU citizens


We're fundraising to hire caseworkers across the country who can provide free legal advice to the most vulnerable EU citizens and their families - especially in areas with high numbers of EU migrants but relatively few providers of free, or even affordable, immigration advice. £25,000 will be enough to employ one fully qualified caseworker for a year, who will change the lives of hundreds of families. The more money we raise, the more caseworkers we can employ and more lives we can change – it's as simple as that. We can't do this without you. Please contribute now and share this page on Facebook and Twitter. 


We're also committed to supporting EU citizens at large, and started our journey by commissioning a free and comprehensive self-help immigration guide: ACT NOW. Co-authored by two leading law firms – Bindmans LLP and Wesley Gryk LLP – the guide is designed to ensure EU citizens know where they stand. It is regularly updated, making it arguably one of the best sources of information for EU citizens.

But self-help advice isn’t enough. In the coming months, the Government will be rolling out its EU Exit Settlement Scheme ('Settled Status') for EU citizens living in the UK. For some people this will be an easy process, but not for everyone. Three things are becoming clear:


  • Some citizens will fall through the cracks – just like the Windrush generation before them, there will always be citizens who have worked and earned a living in the UK, but whose applications will still be rejected.


  • There aren’t enough lawyers to defend them – when citizens do fall through the cracks, there might not be anyone to help them. Citizens who can’t afford legal advice or who have existing vulnerabilities may lose everything.


  • We are running out of time – Settled Status is being trialled at the end of August and will be rolled out in the coming months. That just gives us a very short window to get the money together to start paying full-time legal caseworkers to protect the most vulnerable EU citizens.


The Windrush scandal has left EU citizens feeling even more vulnerable. Not only are these citizens dealing with huge uncertainty, but they have seen the Windrush community lose their homes, their jobs and even their families.

We believe that EU citizens are more than just ‘immigrants’; that they are more than just job statistics or tax contributions. We understand the value of everything they bring to our country: whether it’s in the church hall or on the football pitch.

If you share our belief that EU citizens are #MoreThanABargainingChip, then we need to you stand up and join us. 

With your support, we will help EU citizens stay Here for Good. 

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