Categories: uncategorized
Tags: rant
Date: 23 August 2012 07:16:43
You may remember all the problems that my friend Richard had in Zambia - falsely arrested/imprisoned/accused/put on trial and so on. He has now been deported from Zambia and, I think, is not allowed to return...after all he has done for people there!
For the past months he has been making plans for his "adopted" family to come to visit the UK and France. He has paid their air fares, arranged accommodation, and made oplans to enrich their first holiday abroad. For a rather laidback, laconic man, he has been positively excited.
And today on Facebook he wrote:
British readers, please join me in hanging our heads in collective shame. The visas for my Zambian 'family' have been rejected. The grounds are outrageously stupid. eg, Mary has to get a letter from her parents saying she can travel _ she's 30! She has to prove her son, who is NOT coming, is her son. If she can't produce a bank statement she can't come. And so it goes on. The fees are non-refundable, likewise airfares, rented house, ferries etc. Financial cost over £7000. Emotional cost? Incalculable. Shame at beng British? Complete. Tears of anger and disappointment. Very low
It seems so unfair that this dear man, who is working so hard to improve lives of individuals and villages alike, keeps getting kicked in the teeth. Grrrrr.