French nationals based in the UK have been suffering abuse since Britain voted to exit the EU in June, the French Ambassador to the UK said today.
Addressing a House of Lords committee this week, Sylvie Bermann saidmany of the 300,000 French nationals living in the UK are being forced to reassess their future in Britain, 'The Independent' reported.
"In the aftermath of the referendum, some French nationals were subjected to negative or aggressive language," she said at a hearing of the EU Justice Sub-Committee.
"They were not used to this sort of abuse in a country where many of them have lived for decades and which they regarded as a success story in terms of dynamism and respect for others.
"And some of them now view Britain in a different way and are ready to change their plan in the short run," she added.
Her comments come on the back of official UK Home Office figures released earlier this month indicating a spike in hate crimes since the Brexit vote in June.
The statistics showed thatin July, a month after the referendum, the number of hate crimes jumped to 5,468, some 41 per cent higher than the same time the previous year.
"Some of them (French citizens in London) told me that before the 23rd of June they felt like Londoners and now they feel like foreigners, which is different. A lot express a sense of sadness and of course are waiting for answers," said Bermann.
The UK government is yet to confirm the rights of EU nationals living in the UK.
It is expected that their rights will be confirmed at the same time that memberstates guarantee the rights of British citizens living in their countries.
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