BRUSSELS: British lawmakers are meeting the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, seeking an iron-clad guarantee that 1.3 million UK citizens in the bloc won't have their rights removed and lives disrupted in the event the country leaves the EU without a deal.
The rights of UK citizens living in the 27 other EU nations, and of 3 million EU nationals in Britain, are one of the key issues of Brexit.
Their rights to live, work and study are protected under an agreement struck between the two sides but it has been rejected by Britain's Parliament, raising the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
Conservative lawmaker Alberto Costa, who is leading the delegation to meet negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on Friday, says "If there's no agreement, there's no protection".