i just got interrogated for three hours by UK border police. not fun. don't recommend.
i got let in but apparently it was touch and go between yes you can come in and no you have to buy a next-day one-way ticket to NZ (~$5000). and i have a fixed date of departure which is not recorded on my passport but is recorded in their computers. (i now have two 'coded stamps'. the first i didn't know about; the second has 'six months' written on it, which means 'until 24th of May', because if they wrote '24th of May,' when i have to be out, i could appeal; so they write six months, and if i'm still here on 25th of May, the computers will Know, and it has been made quite clear to me that there will be Trouble.) please, please, everyone go and watch the Alfonso Cuaron film Children of Men. aside from being a beautiful film, it shows the UK T+ 10 years, if current trends continue. no, it's not an exaggeration. NZ is very shielded from this. pay attention: this side of the world is rapidly slipping into the kind of constant-surveillance fascist nightmare we normally associate with World War II or George Orwell. keep your papers on you at all times. you can be asked for them by the police at any time, for any reason. for your safety, security, and comfort, please purchase the lifestyle provided, and do not stray from the path well trodden. i never understood artworks that were about borders, about transience; and then i became one of those people, and now i understand. immigration policy is institutionalised racism. you do not have freedom of movement if you come from the wrong place. apparently, NZ is the wrong place. _______________________________________________ Ada_list mailing list [email protected] http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
