INTERVIEW WITH ISABELLA
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Riya: What is your name and your date of birth?
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Isabella: My name is Isabella Kraft and my date of birth is the 10th of July, 2003.
Riya: Where were you born?
Isabella: London, England
Riya: Where do you currently live?
Isabella: London as well.
Riya: How have you experienced immigration law?
Isabella: Coming from two parents neither of whom are from the UK. So I have a Czech citizenship and an American citizenship and despite the fact that I’ve grown up in London and spent my whole life in the UK, I’m not a UK citizen. So, I’m a permanent resident, but don’t actually have citizenship or a passport to suggest I’m from the UK even though I’m very much shaped by this culture.
Riya: Have you ever faced discrimination in the UK because of where you’re from or where your parents are from?
Isabella: I don’t think as much discrimination. I think with Brexit happening there have been some kind of disputes and especially because people might not know I’m from the Czech Republic or from the US, I hear more of the subtle discrimination. Maybe less so aimed at me. But I still hear a lot of comments about how Eastern Europeans and Central Europeans are coming to steal our jobs in the UK, which, seeing as my mum is from Central Europe and she’s now working here, is interesting.
From the US, I don’t think people really discriminate against the US. I don’t think they’re the most welcoming towards American citizens. I do hear a lot, especially now with Donald Trump as president and with their current coronavirus situation, I think the relationship has gotten a bit worse than it used to be between the UK and the US. But I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any discrimination in towards me.
Riya: Could you tell me more about your family’s cultures?
Isabella: I’ll start with the Czech Republic, because I think that’s where the majority of my family is from and lives now – from my mum’s side at least. I think my mum’s done a very good job of trying to preserve that culture in me and I think if I had to choose one culture that I identify with the most it would probably be the Czech Republic.
I think a lot of the Czech culture is surrounded around sports and team sports, so ice hockey, football, all of that. And as much as I do see that in the UK, I think that’s something – I think I’m just more used to the Czech aspects of sports, having grown up in that. And then only now am I starting to see more of the UK’s side of sports like lacrosse and cricket. Not so much ice hockey as what we’ve got in the Czech Republic. And actually, in the US there’s a lot of ice hockey, so that’s something that kind of links the two and doesn’t really include the UK as much.
Otherwise, I think another thing about Czech culture is the cuisine, like the food. That’s something I feel like I haven’t really taken as much from the UK or the US really. I don’t really have any food or cuisine inclinations from there. I don’t really relate to it as much as I do with Czech food.
And culturally, I think there’s a more – I think Czech Republic being a much smaller country, there’s a greater sense of this community. Everyone working together, which has been especially prevalent now during the coronavirus pandemic. And their ability to work together seems to be a bit greater than it feels like here in the UK. As much as I really love my community and my neighborhood, I don’t think there’s that same kind of nationwide holding together and working together. Especially not in America where it seems to be very unsettled – not so much trust in the government. And I think that might also be to do with the Czech Republic being a much smaller country and everyone is physically closer, so it’s easier to share similar beliefs.
I think that’s something I definitely notice in the Czech Republic, where everyone seems to respect the government more as well and their decisions and follow them a lot more closely. And care for each other and want the best for each other more than I see here in the UK and the US.
Riya: To what extent do you feel comfortable with the government in the UK? To what extent do you feel like you have the same human rights as British citizens?
Isabella: I think in recent years the UK government, I think one of the main issues I see seems to be the instability and how they don’t really – nothing clear seems to be happening. Brexit’s been a huge issue on the political agenda for several years now and we now have a date in December to be leaving the EU. But with the coronavirus pandemic that’s most likely gonna be pushed back even further.
And so I think Brexit is what lost a lot of people’s faith in the government. I think, as an immigrant, Brexit was kind of a sign to me saying that they don’t necessarily want people from Europe coming and living here and working here. And, because I’m not a UK citizen myself actually that applies just as much to me. Having grown up here, having been born here, studied here, and kind of been surrounded by this culture my whole life, I’m still an immigrant from the EU – or at least my parents both are. So that just kind of seems like we’re unwanted here.
Because, I see it a lot in London because of the diversity and many multicultural people. I think that’s hit London particularly hard, because we’re very proud of the diversity and having so many shared cultures and respecting them and actually celebrating that. And the government doesn’t really seem to want that. It seems to be more concerned with British sovereignty and core values that don’t seem to really take into consideration their surrounding countries as much.
Riya: If you had total control over your future, would you like to remain settled in the UK? Or would you want to move out?
Isabella: I think, even after saying all this, I really do love London. I think some of that just might be having grown up here. I see it as my home, so there’s that kind of special connection. But I think I also see London as slightly more detached from the rest of England. And again, this is a very London-centric perspective that I’ve developed over the 16 years living here. So I’m very much kind of – I like the urban diversity we have here. I like all of the cultures. That’s something that in the Czech Republic – as much as I love it and as much as I love that culture, I don’t think there’s that international mix of ethnic groups and I think London is very diverse, very multicultural and I like that. Just being able to look around and see different types of people with different types of beliefs and traditions and different types of food and different types of buildings. And I think that’s really important to me. And even in the US I don’t think anywhere they have that sense of not only tolerating people of different ethnicities, even more than celebrating that and using that to create this vibrant community. I think I would want to stay in London.
Riya: What exactly does home mean to you? Do you consider the UK to be your home?
Isabella: I think I would actually. If someone were to ask me where home is, I think I would look to family first. And seeing as, apart from my parents and my sister, nobody lives in the UK I think that’s where I’d be more inclined to call Czech Republic my home. Just because I know I have a better base there. I think I also feel more comfortable and safe and surrounded by a better community there. I think that’s what home is to me – feeling safe and more like comfortable in your surroundings. And much as I think I might be happier here in London, I think I feel more at home in the Czech Republic. Because that’s a more welcoming environment for me, personally. I don’t think it is for a lot of other people, especially a lot of other ethnic groups, but for me personally, the Czech Republic has been very comforting. A lot of that is due to family and due to me identifying more with the culture.
Riya: Have you ever had issues regarding your citizenship in other countries?
Isabella: I think an American citizenship is definitely more problematic than Czech citizenship. My Czech passport and being a citizen of the Czech Republic hasn’t really been a problem anywhere. I can’t think of anything where that’s been an issue. But I think an American citizenship – obviously America’s got a bit more political tension with countries like Cuba. But then also going into now with the coronavirus pandemic going into the EU as an American citizen with an American passport – for me it’s not so bad, because I do have my Czech passport that I can use when I’m in Europe. But for my dad, who only has an American passport, entering countries like the Czech Republic now and really any country in Europe is quite problematic, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and because governments have decided to shut borders to the US, because of how Covid-19 is spreading there and their death toll and infection rate.
I think that’s where it’s become a slight issue and our government regulations – we’re able to work around it and prove that we are residents of the UK. And my dad, with his permanent residency card, can work around those government rules. But it’s definitely a restriction in somewhat how he can move around Europe and just an added uncertainty as to whether they’ll let him in as an American citizen, because of his association to what’s going on in the US at the moment despite being here.
Riya: Do you travel often to the Czech Republic or the US?
Isabella: We try to travel to the Czech Republic quite often. People are much closer to their family and where they grew up. So, I think I come back to the Czech Republic a lot more often, not just because it’s closer, but because my mum feels that greater strength to her hometown and her family moreso than my dad growing up in the US.
So we travel to the Czech Republic several times a year actually, because it’s quite close. And then to the US - we try to go to the US once a year. So quite frequently, we do travel quite a lot.
Riya: What does freedom of movement mean to you?
Isabella: Freedom of movement…I think it’s just the ability for me to go wherever I want regardless of where I’m from or what passport I might hold. I think I should have the ability to travel where I’d like to and not be constrained by the fact that I might have been born somewhere [else] or that I might be of a certain ethnicity. While that may shape my views slightly, I don’t think that should mean I’m a threat or dangerous to that country. And so I think it’s the ability to move without restrictions, especially restrictions based on where I come from.
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