Brexit as a Trigger and an Obstacle to Onwards and Return Migration

Abstract

In this article, using in-depth interviews with EU27 citizens residing in the UK and Britons residing in Belgium, I analyse the role of the Brexit process as both a trigger of and an obstacle to onward and return migration. Brexit implicates a reduction in the freedom of movement and settlement for both groups and has been linked to the increase of xenophobia and potential economic instability in the UK. In this context, both EU27 citizens in the UK and Britons in Belgium can consider onward or return migrations. However, the Brexit process introduces also obstacles to such migrations, including the loss of EU freedom of movement for UK citizens and complications for transnational and citizenship-divergent families. I argue that the realization of migration plans is mediated both by individual resources and by imaginations on the future of the UK and the EU.