Second-class citizens

Anybody who's ever had to move from a third-world country to a first-world country will say the same thing: you get treated like a second-class citizen. I'm trying to write this with not too much bitterness, because in the end I'm grateful that we have the opportunity to be able to live here, and raise our son here. That's the official line.

But let's be honest: most migrants from a country like South Africa are either highly skilled and/or qualified, or very young, keen and able to work harder and longer than most - because we're so desperate to stay. And it is a slap in the face cold dose of reality when you arrive here and realise that you have to begin at the bottom again. It doesn't matter that you're already in possession of an excellent education and top-notch degree (paid for by the apartheid regime), that you have experience working for some of the best schools or companies in South Africa, that you are in all respects a first-class citizen, whatever that may mean over here: you have to start all over. I have had to contend with jobs in the UK that are far below my abilities, education and experience, and be thankful that I got it in the first place. I know a migrant with a Chemistry degree working in a care-home; another an ex-headteacher of a prestigious private school who will have to cpmplete one more year of study before she is 'allowed' to teach in junior high school. And we are South Africans - I can't imagine how bad it must be if you're from Tonga. (Lolohai Tapui, good for you on employing hiring Max Clifford to handle your media profile, nail the media for more, say £200 000, per interview.) To make matters worse, the government is now submitting proposals to make it even harder for immigrants to become legal citizens, extended from 6 years to 8 or 11 years, depending on your willingness to do community work. I can understand and agree with proposals to stop unskilled and illegal migrants, but why punish hard-working, desperately-trying-to-do-the-right-thing migrants in the process?

To add insult to injury, I am further shocked by the lack of knowledge about immigrant rights by well-educated Brits: no, we do not qualify for any benefits and no, we receive no childcare benefits and no, our baby has to get a South African passport because he is not automatically a citizen just by being born here. We do get free healthcare on the NHS, but we've been paying proper council tax and other tax since we first arrived.

Why don't you just go back to South Africa? Because there we don't have a justification for being treated like second-class citizens.