I was reflecting on this question this afternoon as I read a news report on the internet. The item that really set me thinking was an account of the extraordinary and cumbersome bureaucratic procedure that has been devised by the British Home Office for processing refugees from Ukraine.* It appears to involve one of those “Catch 22” conundrums. If you want to come to Britain it is very straightforward, in that you need to complete a procedure on the internet which requires that you give information of one kind or another. The “Catch” is that if you are a refugee you probably don’t have access to the internet and in all probability also, having left your home, don’t have access either to the relevant official information about yourself. Of course, once you get to the UK access to the internet will be no problem, but ….
I heard also on the radio interview with somebody who had managed to escape from a city in Ukraine with only a small back-pack. No doubt this limited capacity was used on order to carry the necessary forms for entry to the UK. The fact that she already had family members in this country who could vouch for her identity would not be sufficient.
Many years ago a Labour Home Secretary called John Reid made his name by appearing before a Committee of Enquiry to which he said that the Home Office was “not fit for purpose”. Official disapproval descended on his head like a ton of bricks, and he was never forgiven by the Civil Service establishment …. although he was absolutely correct. This is, I believe, the only thing for which John Reid’s service in politics is remembered. His judgement is as true today as it was then. The department is rigidly bureaucratic and institutionally xenophobic. As with the present incumbent of the Ministerial desk (Pritti Patel) it usually is led by people whose personal values are entirely in keeping with the culture of their department.
It does make one think, however, when this question is raised. As an artist, is it likely that you will be remembered for anything? If so, what …. and why?
*The “Home Office” is the British equivalent of what in many other countries is called the “Ministry of the Interior”.