Can you imagine a civilised European country that would refuse entry to David? That’s David, as in I Am David, by Anne Holm. It’s one of my top hankie books, only recently matched by In the Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda, about Enaiatollah Akbari. The main difference between David and Enaiatollah is that David is fictional. And nicely Danish.
This isn’t the first time I’m mentioning immigration on here, and it won’t be the last either. At least not while some countries believe they are so irresistible that absolutely everyone would prefer to come and live in them, stopping at nothing to achieve their goal.
Did I ever mention the council employee in my borough who checked whether I had any undesirable relatives who might flock to Britain in search of untold riches, and I don’t know what else, if they gave me a National Insurance number? It offended me deeply, and I doubt that even had my elderly aunts been desperate to move to England, that they would have gone about it by getting me to find someone to marry, so that fifteen years later they could join me in my foreigner-’friendly’ new country.
Anyway, here I am, complete with NI number and everything, and not an unwanted aunt in sight. This weekend I’m heading north, to take in a week at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. (Typing this just now, my attention was caught by the word ‘international’. I think it means something involving several countries.)
So, I was very disappointed to find this information yesterday: ’Enaiatollah Akbari, whose story has been so movingly told by Fabio Geda in “In the Sea There Are Crocodiles”, has “…met an obstacle this week that he could not conquer: the UK visa system” and will be linked in to his Edinburgh Festival event by video. 5pm Sunday 21st Aug.’
I loved this book, and I had really been looking forward to the event. It will most likely still be good, with the remaining foreigner they are allowing in. The thing is, Fabio Geda is Italian, and a citizen of an EU country. Enaiatollah Akbari is presumably still an Afghan refugee with the right to remain in Italy. But no right to enter the UK.
What do they imagine he’d do? Stay?
I doubt he’d want to, but if he did, this country ought to be proud to have him. I can’t think of a nicer role model.
So we’ll miss Enaiatollah in Edinburgh. Whoever decided he couldn’t come here ought to be ashamed. I hope I can find somewhere else that will welcome him with open arms.
(This caused me to think back 29 years, and the immigration officer at Heathrow. I remember his superior tone when enquiring if the Resident IT Consultant was born in England, because it’s a well know fact that us ghastly foreigners stick together. I had to admit that, no, he wasn’t…)
Sad. This book is amazing and heartbreaking. Should be on the curriculum. Complete admiration for Fabio Geda and his work. Did anyone see the article in the Guardian about the Baobab Centre? http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/13/baobab-centre-asylum-seekers-family
which provides counselling and support to child refugees in similar circumstances.
Yes, the article about the Baobab Centre was fabulous, and hearbreaking.
On personal experiences of UK immigration, I became a German citizen almost two years ago (long story, and I’m still an Australian one as well), and remember entering the UK for the first time on my new passport. Instead of having to queue for ages, fill out forms and being questioned as to what I was doing and where I was going – despite having a student visa for a pretty respectable university in my passport and countless entry stamps already – I waved the new document, asked if I had to do anything to change my status in the UK (answer: no), and waltzed on past. Same person, but instead of being subject to immigration control I was now a respectable member of the EU. Funny old world, really.
(Australia’s immigration policy is also pretty wretched, and has a fairly mixed history as well – my grandfather made it in as someone young and able to work, but his mother and sister were considered deeply undesireable. Since this was Germany in 1938-9, you can guess the rest. This may or may not be linked the fact that I Am David also made me cry buckets when I read it many years ago, and I’ve never picked it up since.)
OK, probably enough personal outpouring for one comment!
The problem becomes one of applying the rules evenly; by issuing a visa to him, they are also then going to be obliged to issue visit visas to many others. There are ideological discussions to be had around whether or not we should (or could) grant entry to everyone who applies but that is a question for the public and politicians.