Deportation Woes

Okay, so you’ve studied here for perhaps as much as four years, or maybe even more. You look at your peers on your course and perhaps it doesn’t occur to you that they may soon become ‘persona not grata’ due to visa restrictions, and very soon be unceremoniously removed from the country.

It’s odd to think that HM Government would be so keen to deport hard-working, intelligent people at a time of economic difficulty like this. But, unfortunately, they lack those magic words ‘European Union’ on their passports and so they’re screwed. Never mind that they may be Australians or Canadians or Hong Kongers, who are British in all but name, and whose family sacrificed so much to keep us free from oppression in the 1940s. They’re not welcome, oh no!

It’s really disgusting, our priorities as a country. Firstly, our Government fights to prevent giving Right of Abode to Gurkhas, and it’s only in the face of a campaign by Joanna Lumley and both the Conservatives and Lib Dems that the then Labour Government relents. Secondly, we’ve had a Government reluctant to allow loyal Afghan interpreters, fearful for their lives, the right to live here.

However you look at it, it’s a weird set of priorities. Those who have put their trust in Britain get screwed over, yet those who have contributed nothing get everything, just because we’re members of an undemocratic, self-serving organisation like the European Union.

What’s perhaps worse than the cases I’ve highlighted is those of British Nationals (Overseas). They are Hong Kongers, born before the Handover to communist China, who chose to adopt some form of British Nationality while they still lived in a British territory. Their passports look exactly like ours, have the Royal Crest on the front, and are issued with the full authority of the Crown. Woe betide them, however, if they thought they could live in the country of their nationality! No, BN(O) gives no rights to live in the UK. You may have moved to Hong Kong thinking the British would protect you from the evil regime you fled. I’m afraid you were mistaken. Our Government, guided by our civil service, doesn’t care about you. We only care about being ‘good Europeans’.

If you do have a sense of right and wrong, and are a British Subject, you can sign a petition about giving full rights to BN(O)s at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/44679.

Christopher Kaye is next year’s Campaigns Officer and tweets @okaye_chris