Becoming British

Getting British citizenship is not cheap. Even when you have lived in the country, paid taxes and national insurance there for a long time, you still need to pay to get your citizenship. At the moment, the fee stands at £735.

In addition to paying, you need to take a test. According to a friend of mine who recently took it, the test is not difficult; all you need to do is to study a book in English about National Days in the UK and do forth, and you will be fine.

But then you do need to understand English enough to be able to read the book and to answer in the test. Naturally, you also need to be able to read and write.

The fee does make you wonder whether it is there just to discourage people from applying and and to select only those who have the money and are willing to pay. How much money is the Government making with these fees?

The test can also be seen as discriminatory as those whose English is not good enough, who don't know how to read or have the skills fill to do the test have no chance.

It is understandable that countries need to limit the number of citizenships that they grant and the number of people that they accept under their wing. But there are different ways of doing this; some of which are more ethical than favouring the rich and the skilled.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/applying/cost/

Attracting the Brightest and the Best

Now the new coalition Government in the UK wants to attract the brightest and the best. They are proposing that there should be a cap to migration fro outside the EU, with the aim to only allow the brightest and the best to come into the country.

Doesn't this sound discriminatory? How are they going to determine who is 'the brightest' and who is 'the best'? Are they going to introduce exams for this? Are they going to check in detail every migrant's backgrounds?

Doesn't is sound strange that a Government that has been part of creating a lot of refugees to refuse them to enter their country? What are the thousands of Afgans and Iraqis going to do if they are refused asylum in the UK simply because they don't fit the category of 'the brightest' or 'the best', yet they can't return to their home countries due to fear of getting killed in the war?

The logic in the arguments put forward by the Tory-Lib Dem Government is not consistent nor humanitarian. What happened to all the talk about an accepting and tolerant new Britain?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/25/government-reconsiders-immigration-cap-plans

'I THING OF YOU' by Ahdaf Soueif

'I THINK OF YOU' is the most inspiring and capturing book that I have read in a long time. Ahdaf Souief was a uniquely beautiful writing style. It takes you to another place, to another reality... somewhere where you can lose yourself for a minute and forget about your life.

The novel is a collection of Soueif's short stories from earlier on in her writing career. These were published after her successful novel 'The Map of Love'. Souief has written both fiction and non-fiction, with her major themes for writing circling around cultural barriers (she is an Egyptian who lives in London half of her time) and our existence.

In fact, Souief's work has been highly acclaimed for both its art and political, as well as social, commentary. 'I THINK OF YOU' is an excellent example of her work.

Here is the link to the book: http://ahdafsoueif.com/Books/i_think_of_you.htm

New Londoners

I have been doing some work for the Migrants Resource Centre in London over the past couple of months. I have been helping them out with their newspaper that is aimed at policy makers and MPs, as well as the general public, in order to raise issues to do with refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.

Many of the articles have been written or been inspired by clients of MRC and volunteers who work with them.

This newspaper, the New Londoners, has just been launched in a digital magazine format. It will be out quarterly, with a paper copy for Refugee Week (which is on at the moment).

Look out for the News sections, myth busting and news-related articles... me and my team have done those! Here is the link to the magazine plus the link to the website:

http://theenvironment.vfolio.co.uk/leadgeneration/2c962e81c64299e90a11d79da462854b/

http://www.thenewlondoners.co.uk/

GOOP

Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the celebrities who is using her fame in a positive way. I have been following her blog for sometime and found the content (at least most of it) interesting, primarily due to the fact that she is well-connected and can find professionals from all fields to give their input.

The latest blog entry was to do with the purpose of giving - have a read and subscribe to the blog if get hooked:

http://goop.com/newsletter/87/en/

Neutropenia: my life-long friend

I often get asked about the blood disorder that I have had since I was born; even many doctors don't know much about it and I end up explaining my own experiences with neutropenia to them. 

Although acute neutropenia is much more common, e.g. after chemotherapy or being ill for a longer period of time, chronic neutropenia is not nearly as common. So here I share a link with you that will hopefully bring you some light to the condition... The information has been out together by the Canadian Neutropenia Association. I strongly feel that we need to have such an Association in Europe as well; perhaps that can be my next adventure - watch this space! 

http://www.neutropenia.ca/about/index.html

Caravansary - 'In your journey through life you can rest in our Caravansary and carry on inspired and stronger'

Here is some info about a brilliant not-for-profit organization based in London. For anyone who is interested in exploring the positive effects of drumming, singing or dance, check them out! 

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Caravansary in London organises and facilitates Mediterrenean and Middle Eastern percussion and music workshops, drum circles, Sufi drum circles in London, Sufi music events and poetry evenings in London. 

London Drum Circle explores rhythms, percussion, drumming, music, dance, singing. 

London Drum Circle is available to run FREE drum circles for hospitals and charities, or if you are doing a fund raising for a charity for happy to support. 

For ore info, see: http://www.caravansary.org/