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London: Great Britain has been closing itself off since Brexit
Photo: Alberto Pezzali / AP
Great Britain has been sealing itself off more strongly since Brexit and has also made it more difficult for citizens from the European Union to enter.
From January to March alone, British border guards turned away a total of 3,294 EU citizens - six times as many as in the first quarter of the previous year.
This emerges from statistics from the Home Office in London.
Cases in which EU citizens at British airports or ports were only sent back to their homeland after days in detention for deportation caused a stir.
The end of free movement was the declared aim of Brexit, the British departure from the European Union, which took full effect on January 1st.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Interior Minister Priti Patel keep repeating that Great Britain is now a sovereign country that can determine its own borders.
Romania is particularly hard hit
According to the Interior Ministry, a total of 22 German citizens were prevented from entering the country in the first quarter of 2021, twice as many as a year ago.
However, this does not mean a significant increase on average over the past few years.
The situation is different for Romania, which with more than 2000 people makes up around two thirds of those affected.
Here the number increased almost tenfold.
Tourists from the EU can still come to the UK without a visa.
But anyone who wants to live or work there now needs a visa.
People who lived there before Brexit can apply until the end of June in the so-called Settlement Scheme, which guarantees them largely the same rights as before leaving the EU.
Most recently there were reports that EU citizens who wanted to enter Germany to look for a job or as an au pair without a visa were held in custody for days and then sent back.
The Interior Ministry instructed the border guards to change this.
As the Guardian reported, most EU citizens have already been intercepted during British border controls at EU ports or at the Eurostar terminal in Paris.
738 people were said to have been expelled after arriving in the UK.
If air traffic starts up again, the number should increase significantly.
asa / dpa