I’m settled now

I did it, I settled down. Sort of.

I don’t mean it in a sense of bearing a child or buying a home here.

I have “settled status“ now. This means I won’t be deported unless I commit a crime or move for five consecutive years out of the country, then it’s lost again. This is good news, but no reason to celebrate. I have a rather bittersweet feeling about this. I had to apply for rights that I already had. My new indefinite leave to remain. It will give me fewer rights than I had before. I won’t be able to vote in local elections anymore once the UK leaves the European Union, for example (whenever that becomes reality). Nevermind the increasingly negative sentiment towards EU migrants.

The fact that EEA and Swiss citizens had to apply rather than register is a case of its own despite the Home Office saying they are “welcome“. I have never felt less welcome in the UK than when using the EU exit app on a borrowed Android phone again and again because it kept on crashing. It also didn’t help that I was doing that while streaming a speech in Parliament by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The fact that EU citizens have to apply rather than register to stay in the country shows you where the Home Office procedure is going.

For those who say nothing will change I can only ignore them with the same ignorance they have towards the developments for non-Brits in this country.

It’s not only EU citizens that are being stripped of rights, also asylum seekers from other parts of the world will have fewer rights to remain as it turns out. I mean, it is no surprise with Priti Patel as Home Secretary.

British politics is crumbling at a fast pace facilitating rightwing views held by people of the general public, making them mainstream - see Rees-Mogg.

It’s sad that it has come to this. When I came to the UK five years ago a referendum was some weird idea pushed by Ukip. I never thought it would become reality and could not imagine that the UK could take such a steep path downhill. I do not think I was naive back then, although I witnessed signs over the years.

More than ever I am glad that I chose to live my London life with the occasional expeditions to rural areas to observe locals in their natural habitat.

To wrap this up: I can stay, but it is no reason to crack the champagne open. Although we did anyway. Turns out real French champagne absorbs sorrows pretty well. A ma santé!