GETTY Migrant numbers may surge as EU citizens seek to avoid new UK rules

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Migrant numbers could jump as Europeans rush to get into the UK before new rules on EU citizens living here come into force. MPs on the Home Affairs Committee have demanded the Government act swiftly to head off the impending problem. Echoing calls backed by readers of this paper for a swift departure from the bloc, the MPs said ministers must clarify the status of EU nationals living here and that of British ex-pats living on the Continent.

In its report, published today, the committee called for a deadline for migrants living in Britain to qualify for permanent residence after Brexit takes effect. Options for the cut-off point included the date of the historic EU referendum, June 23, 2016 or the day Britain finally and officially leaves the EU or the day Prime Minister Theresa May triggers the Article 50 process setting the clock ticking on formal talks ending in Britain’s exit from the bloc. Mrs May has said she does not expect to invoke Article 50 this year.

But leading “Brexiteers” want a swifter exit which they say could happen within weeks by repealing the Act of Parliament under which we joined the EU in 1972.

EU citizens living and working in the UK must be told where they stand in relation to the UK leaving the EU Home Affairs committee

In today’s report the Home Affairs committee said: “Past experience has shown that previous attempts to tighten immigration rules have led to a spike in immigration prior to the rules coming into force. “Much will depend on the negotiations between the UK and the EU and the details of any deal.” Immigration authorities must be given the extra resources they needed to deal with increased workload arising from new rules, stressed the MPs.

GETTY New immigration rules will depend on negotiations between the UK and the EU

They added: “The outcome of the EU referendum has placed EU nationals living in the UK in a potentially very difficult and uncertain position. The key to resolving this is certainty. “EU citizens living and working in the UK must be told where they stand in relation to the UK leaving the EU and they should not be used as bargaining chips in the negotiations. There also has to be an effective cut-off date to avoid a surge in applications.” Calling for a special Home Office unit to resolve Brexit issues concerning EU citizens in Britain, the committee urged the Government to choose “as quickly as possible” how it would establish where the people live and work as the first step to clarifying their right to permanent residence. Options could include registration, or identification by National Insurance number. “Whatever scheme the Government follows should be chosen as quickly as possible and be made as seamless as possible. If a system of registration is required then a pilot should be established with a local authority so that practical considerations can be further explored.” Committee chairman Keith Vaz added: “The biggest issue relating to Brexit is migration.

“There is a clear lack of certainty in the Government’s approach to the position of EU migrants resident in the UK and British citizens living in the EU. “Neither should be used as pawns in a complicated chess game which has not even begun. “We have offered three suggested cut-off dates, and unless the Government makes a decision, the prospect of a ‘surge’ in immigration will increase. “Multiple voices and opinions from government ministers causes uncertainty, and must stop.” Reacting to the report, Charlie Elphicke, Tory MP for Dover, said: “Border officers at Dover tell me they can’t count EU citizens in and out. “They say it could take a year or more to put systems in place. There must be a concern that Britain will struggle to prevent any EU migrant surge.

GETTY Britain will not officially start its exit from the EU until Theresa May triggers Article 50

“The Government doesn’t seem to have a plan. It urgently needs one. “If we’re serious about bringing down levels of immigration, we’ve got to keep order at the border.” Mr Elphicke, who is not member of the committee, also seized on his fellow MPs’ condemnation of the failure to collect millions of pounds of fines a year levied on lorry drivers caught with illegal stowaways on board. Under a civil penalty system introduced in 2004, drivers and their employers can be fined up to £2,000 per person found, regardless of whether they knew they were on board. Around 40 illegal migrants a day - many who started their journeys in the Calais “Jungle” camp - were found in Dover and surrounding areas last summer. The UK’s Border Force and French counterparts foiled an estimated 40,000 attempts to illegally enter the UK at Calais and, Coquelles and Dunkerque last year, more than double the 18,000 made 12 months earlier. But fines served on drivers and haulage firms - mostly foreign-owned - have not all been paid.

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Nearly £6.5million of penalties were levied in 2014-15 but only about £4million was recovered - and some of this may be fines imposed in previous years. Mr Elphicke added: “Hard-working truckers in Dover have had migrants sneak into their lorries and been fined heavily for it. “They are furious they are made to cough up while so many foreign truckers don’t pay and get away with it. “The Home Office needs to get a grip and make sure all migrant smugglers are made to pay up. Failure to do so just encourages illegal immigration and the ruthless people smuggling trade.” Mr Vaz added: “The inability to collect penalties from those who are serial and persistent breachers of our immigration law, who harbour, employ or smuggle illegal migrants make a laughing stock of our border controls. “For £2.5million in fines to remain unpaid is shameful, and if the Government is serious about deterring people smuggling it may need to consider making this into a criminal offence.”

GETTY Leading Brexiteers are calling for a swift exit through an Act of Parliament