Dogwash

I have to admit I didn't take much notice of this bit of nastiness [Link 1] [Link 2] the first time around, despite it taking place very much in my manor. Frankly, a Black youth getting casually stabbed and kicked to death in Woolwich by some other Black youths in what is speculated to be drug-related gang violence is hardly "Hold the front page!" news down here in vibrant diverse Sarf London.

No, it wasn't the child's untimely demise which caught my attention when I stumbled across the news item again this morning, but rather the manner of his arrival on these shores:

Today Sunday's friends said he had been sent from Nigeria at the age of six or seven having become orphaned following the deaths of both his parents.

Sunday's best friend Abu Mansaray, 17, said the news of his death had still not sunk in. He said: "I was like a brother to him. He was struggling, struggling all his life - coming here from Nigeria at primary school age for a better life..."

OK, let's put that to one side for the moment and do a bit of general browsing. Now, suppose you find yourself yet again reading one of the innumerable and repetitive race/immigration/BNP threads on CiF and similar fora. Reading CiF is a bit like self-harming or recreational pharmaceuticals: you know you shouldn't but, well, one last time won't do any harm, will it? Well, on this last ever, ever (promise!) read of CiF, you can pretty well guarantee that about half way downthread someone will pop up and solemnly assure us that it's well nigh impossible to immigrate into the UK from a Third World country.

If I have the energy later on, I'll see if I can find a real example or two, but you know the form:-

The borders are secure. Nobody from the Third World can settle in the UK these days without at least two postgraduate degrees and a job offer in the UK which has been extensively and repeatedly advertised without success in all UK newspapers over a period of not less than six years, together with personal letters of recommendation from at least three of the Queen's corgis. And in the case of an actual or intending spouse wishing to join an existing British citizen in the UK, entry under a provisional visa may be granted only after exhaustive investigations and will be subject to the presence of a UKBA observer in the marital bedroom for a probationary period of not less than ten years before permanent settlement can be considered. Any issue born during the probationary period will be deported or, at ministerial discretion, eaten.

Or something along those lines.

Piecing together the various newspaper articles on the Sunday Essiet murder, it seems that following his father's death, Sunday's mother brought him and his sister from Nigeria "for a better life" to the UK, where they stayed with relatives. His mother subsequently returned to Nigeria where she too died, with Sunday and his sister remaining in the UK.

What puzzles me is, how does this scenario fit in with our supposed ultra-strict immigration regime which has, we are so confidently and authoritatively assured, reduced Third World inward migration to a sluggish elite trickle?

— "Purpose of visit?"
— "To settle permanently with a view to making a better life for my kids."
— "Fair enough! Welcome to the UK. Mind how you go, Madam!"

Or perhaps,

— "Purpose and duration of visit?"
— "Visiting relatives. Six months."
— "Your tourist visa seems to be in order, Madam. Enjoy your stay in the United Kingdom.

followed by a quick shopping trip down the Thamesmead document factories.

It begs questions, doesn't it? In particular, if the immigration rules, which in substance derive from the 1971 Act, are as tough as they are made out to be, just how many of our more recent arrivals have a questionable status, and what is the status of their UK-born children?




Meanwhile, in other news, the conversion rate for the Naira in Woolwich today is 265 NGN = 1 GBP.