I received some depressing news this evening.
A dear friend of mine (I'll refer to her as 'T') embarked on a civil partnership with a lovely girl ('S') in the summer of 2012. The ceremony was conducted here in the UK.
T is a British citizen, S is from South Africa. In 2013 S was informed that she was no longer welcome to stay in the UK. The reasons given boiled down to the fact that the couple didn't earn enough per annum for the government to allow them to remain together here. S subsequently returned to South Africa.
Earlier this year T and S were informed that they could live elsewhere in the European Union. T found accommodation in the Republic of Ireland, and arrangements were made for S to join her there. S bought an airline ticket for a flight departing last Sunday, no questions asked.
S was informed WHEN SHE TURNED UP AT THE AIRPORT that she would not be permitted to board the plane. She was told that moving to Ireland was a 'stepping stone' to an eventual move to the UK. I do not know who made the decision to prevent her from travelling.
T and S are a loving couple. They are both white (not that it should make any difference) and they are both committed Christians. They would be an asset to any country that welcomed them.
Theirs is not an isolated case. Nor is it the most heart-rending. T and S don't have children they long to be reunited with.
There is a heated debate going on in the UK at the moment about 'uncontrolled' immigration. If you don't believe the government are in full control of who is and who isn't allowed to settle here then I have a rather nice bridge you might like to buy.
Comments
And mean while...
In the US the current policy is look the other way regardless of what the laws says. Neither setup makes any sense. But then I guess common sense it even less common among politicians. Why is doing what is sensible hard for them to achieve?
It makes you shutter to think about it! * :p
>i< ..:::
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*oopsies shutta waz frum diffwent pozt
Yes, we have tens to hundreds
Yes, we have tens to hundreds of thousands of people here that have _no_ apparent income, yet they're being pandered to by every stinking politician. The latest round is "No, you can't require photo ID for voting! That's a poll tax!" The photo ID costs $16 (if you're under 60), and is good for 6 years. If you're over 60, it's $6, and good for 6 years. I _really_ don't see how less than $2 a year is a "poll tax" - especially when you realize that buying alcohol, cigarettes, and having a bank account kind of requires a photo ID. For that matter, it doesn't matter who you get the ID through. Passport, driver's license, standard photo ID, military ID, just about anything works as long as it's _not_ issued by a foreign government.
(Yes, I do know what poll taxes are and were for. They were sums of money required before you were allowed to vote, to try to keep poor people from influencing legislation and positions. $100 a year would be a poll tax. $16 every six years is "Cut your cigarettes for a month". They spend more than that on their cellular phones.)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
In Illinois it is $20 for 5
In Illinois it is $20 for 5 years, free if you are over 65, disabled or homeless.
One state that tried to have a photo ID law for voting, included getting a free ID for low income levels. And it was still thrown out.
Someone local wrote a 'letter to the editor.' He voted early and needed an ID to get into the building where early voting was, but didn't need an ID to vote.
Someone Should Write a Song. . .
. . . about governments and borders. Just imagine! Of course, that's just silly because if someone did they would probably kill him.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I would think...
That one avenue might be to try and get the media involved? I mean, if possible, try and shame the UK government into allowing them to be together?
~And so it goes...
The messed up part is...
If they were terrorists they would get a full visa, a tax credit, and subsidized rent for a flat...
All joking aside, maybe they could come to the US for a few years? Claim political asylum...?
Thanks For Commenting
Thanks for these comments. I know it isn't easy to find the right tone to use when someone posts a blog like this. I appreciate your time, and your sentiments.
The issue of non-EU same-sex partners being barred from the UK was supposed to have been sorted out last year along with same-sex marriage. But there's a general election coming up, and any party seen to be 'soft' on immigration of any kind isn't going to win too many votes.
There are THOUSANDS of couples like that !
Nickie,
A young man I know married a Russian lady, and they came back to his place in Britain. Her Mother became ill and it became necessary for her to fly back to Russia. Her monther died, and there were problems with selling off her Mother's appartment, and the Dacha, and it took a couple of months. She then tried to fly back to the UK to join her husband, but she was denied entry into the UK, despite their marriage and her visa, which was declared invalid or expired or something. They want to start a family, but in their 40s time is running out for them. The insensitive and dimwitted anti-immigration guards have refused her entry. He can go there, but he has a small business to run that is based in Britain and cannot really be run from St Petersberg . This is really cruel and an infingement of their human rights to procreate. He was told to tell her to go to the UK Consulate in St P's to get their help, but that was closed down by the UK some years ago - the people this side of the dept are using outdated information. They are both getting to screaming point. I suggested going to Romania and buying a passport from there, now that Rumanians can come here because it is in the EU, but they are afraid that if it was spotted she was really Russian they would never be allowed to get together.
Authorities only care about themselves and their own cronies.
This is only one of a great many reasons why we should indeed have a Revolution. With the bunch of clowns available to us to vote for I would not trust any of them further than \i can spit. What they say they will do to get elected and what they do after they are elected are totally different. The only way we can get a real change is to Revolt and throw them and all their bullies out.
Briar
Considering you allowed the
Considering you allowed the government to first register, then seize, your ability to fight against said government, you don't have much hope of a successful revolution.
Keep in mind that Germany under the NAZI party, and Mussolini's Italy were the last two countries to do full gun seizures. (That is, not even shotguns for hunting).
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I see the problem here
The Russian lady should have got what is called 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' status. My other half is Russian and was here like this for 7 years. Then she became a british citizen in 2010. During the period she was here under her Russian Passport, she travelled back to Russia many times and never had a problem returning.
Marriage does not automatically infer rights to remain in the UK.
now she has no intention of ever going back while Putin is trying to be Stalin Mk2 but that is another story.
Revolution
I've thought of placing dummy nuke bombs in all major cities in the world and then blackmailing the world powers to give me Alaska, but that's like a far dream. I'm also thinking of joining the South Thai insurgenists, to push for a new free country.
My own country is no longer salvageable. I once thought that I can change the country to make it a better nation. Unfortunately, that is just a dream, because the country is now being controlled by extremist muslims, hypocrites and racist Malays. The only way for me to be free is to punch through with a kingdom of my own. Unfortunately, there is no more kingdom or even a piece of land that is not claimed or for sale now. Even a small rock in the middle of nowhere is owned by some far away country.
Google micronation. Once, the Minerva Project succeeded in making their own island in the pacific ocean. The Tongan navy then invaded it, annexed it and blew it up. Sealand succeeded in claiming their own patch of land, although that's not recognized and looked upon as more of a joke than reality. They could only stay because the British couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.
Seasteading aimed to create a new nation at sea. Problem is, the current project is being run by the rich who want to escape taxes. So they can decide who stays and who don't and those not rich who want to join will be like the slaves of the rich who own the nation.
We should make out own micronation, especially since a revolution can only be seen as pipe dream. Although we can say that many people support us, is that enough people to push our governments to accept our demands? For something this big you'll need at least enough people to fill the streets of a small city before the governments will even bother with it. Best to make our own virtual micronation, as time goes on, people who believe in the same thing we believe will join and that will only be good for the future lobbying. Or some of us can end up building our own nation in the future and the micronation community can become the quick population and support pillars of that new nation.
A lot of micronations with actual land failed because they failed to take into account 5 things: Population, Economy, Propaganda, Industry and International Relations.
Additional reading
1. Micronations wikia
2. A New Land
3. Micronations wikia
What we need!
What we need is a cheep road to the stars, unfortunately that does not exist yet.
Till then, I live in my dreams, well partially.
~ Hypatia >i< ..:::
(Denizen of Virtual Worlds & such with a bit of LARPing thrown in)
Immigration
As an interpreter, I have had the dubious privilege of working with the UK Border Agency once or twice, and I can honestly say that in a career spanning three countries and forty years, I have never, ever met a bigger collection of numpties. At least, that was until the rise of UKIP; it is dreadful to see how ill-informed, unhappy, and insecure people are being manipulated by a small group of unscrupulous and very wealthy people. It really does remind me of the 1930s.
Distant Sunshine