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A little thread about having more than one home country during the COVID19 pandemic... (1/n)
People always ask me which country is my 'home' and for a while it made me feel I didn't 'belong' in either of the two countries I've lived in - my birth country or my second one (by dual citizenship and 13 years living). (2/n)
I love both my countries, though they are each far from perfect, and a few years ago I started calling them both 'home' because I do belong in both, not one or the other or neither. (3/n)
I know many people who feel the same - that they have a different part of their heart, their friends and family, their memories and life - in more than one country. But now, in a pandemic, dual citizens in particular are forced to choose one. (4/n)
For some this is easy based on their circumstances. For others, like me, I genuinely live in both places at different times of year. I have come across many in the same position. So when COVID happened, we didn't inexplicably up sticks and move to our other country,did we?(5/n)
But at some point, this thing started dragging on. And now we need to move between them. Now my second country is Australia and so right now, due to the passenger cap imposed (yes, even on its own citizens) this experience has taught me something. (6/n)
People who have never called two countries home are making decisions that affect us in severe ways. There are families separated, livelihoods at stake. I am lucky, my employers have managed to cope with a min. 2 month delay while I wait for a flight to not be cancelled (7/n)
But many are not so lucky. Yet to me, the worst thing is the principle of what is happening. The Australian passenger cap is keeping citizens like me out of the country. And the rhetoric is 'you should have come back earlier' but that is not feasible for dual-country people.
The contrast is stark: the UK is letting me choose autonomy but asking me to manage the consequences, while Australia is sending a clear message that it doesn't value people like me. It is very upsetting to find my birth country taking this position.
And even though it's FINE and I'll be FINE the psychological impact of Australia's decisions will linger. I no longer trust them to uphold my rights as a citizen to enter (and don't get me started on banning citizens from leaving).
Anyway, that's today's rant. I know I'm not the only person who has two home countries, but it is interesting to compare and contrast their responses and how they make you feel in this kind of situation.
