Read the Fine Print
On the inside cover of my freshly printed blue British passport it reads:
Her Britannic Majesty's
Secretary of State
requests and requires in the
name of Her Majesty
all those whom it may concern
to allow the bearer to pass freely
without let or hindrance,
and to afford the bearer
such assistance and protection
as it may be necessary
I know this because I have spent the first few weeks with this passport in my possession sleeping with it on my bedside table, always within reach.
Its insignia glimmers under the orange light of my reading lamp: a lion and a unicorn - animals of fear and fantasy - reminding me of my frightening and unfathomable freedom.
I know this because I have waited for this moment for seven years, imagining the feeling of passing freely without let or hindrance, not knowing entirely what it would feel like, or if I would still be read immediately - as before - as an intruder, an imposter, a thief instead of a human being at the gate.
I didn’t know if I would still be read immediately - as before - as an intruder, an imposter, a thief instead of a human being at the gate?
I know this because I have for a lifetime before this carried a green and beaten passport that paled in comparison to the forms and files and tickets and requirements and visas to prove that yes, I am allowed to be here.
Yes, I have enough money to be here. No, I have no plans stay longer than I've said I would be here. Yes, I have followed the rules and jumped through the hoops you have placed in my way to be here.
No, I am not a security risk. Yes, I am only a tourist, a traveller, a student.
No, my country is not rich. Yes, I speak a language that you fear because you cannot read it. But no, I am not here to steal or deceive you. Yes, I have my ticket to leave already booked, here: look. Can I come in now?
So, yes --
I have read every word printed by The Gatekeepers in the long and winding halls of royally sanctioned bureaucracy that I now so happen to fall on the safer side of.
But, no -- there is no victor here.
To afford the bearer such assistance and protection as it may be necessary, promises Her Majesty who occupied my country for 80 years, who's armies raped and pillaged and stole and then displayed their winnings in museums for all the world to see.
Why, thank you Ma'am for your graciousness.
*****
Post-script:
I am really lucky to be one of the few people who has gained access to the protection and freedoms granted by a British passport, but not everyone is so lucky and that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I travel “without let or hindrance” because of my British passport after years of discrimination and delays caused by an Egyptian passport.
Read the fine print is just a small personal expression of my feelings about this and how complicated it is to be an immigrant who is now granted access and privilege in a country that doesn’t treat all immigrants equally. It feels like a very small puzzle piece of a much bigger project that is still coming together in my mind and in my writing.
If you care to learn more about refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers in the UK and the anti-refugee laws that are currently creating huge barriers to entry for them, and endangering their safety and their lives, you can visit this link:
https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/campaigns/stand-up-for-asylum/