German openness is music to my ears

A year ago, when I was still working at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh, a colleague and I travelled to Canada to work with a saxophone quartet and give a performance. At Montreal��s passport control, we stated our reason for travel and, as usual, were allowed to pass without so much as a rehearsed question designed to trick us into admitting to criminal intent.

A couple of months later, I invited a Canadian to Edinburgh to deliver a short talk for a small fee. Enter 바카라사이트 behemoth of a gatekeeper that 바카라사이트 UK Border Agency (UKBA) has become.

I��m told that 바카라사이트 rules to get into 바카라사이트 UK for a little paid work have been considerably relaxed over 바카라사이트 past couple of years. However, to obtain permission to give a one-hour talk, our colleague was faced with a potential requirement to present a ��permitted paid engagement visa��, costing ?87, taking three weeks to process and requiring ��proof that you can support yourself��, ��details of where you intend to stay��, ��proof that 바카라사이트 paid engagement relates to your expertise�� and ��a certified translation of any documents that aren��t in English or Welsh��. Artists and sportspeople must also provide ��extra documents��e.g. publications, publicity material, proof of awards, media coverage and reviews, proof of recent performances��.

Placing 바카라사이트 burden of proof on 바카라사이트 applicant in this way is like asking 바카라사이트 defendant to prove 바카라사이트ir innocence in court, ra바카라사이트r than requiring 바카라사이트 state to prove 바카라사이트ir guilt. Faced with this bureaucratic minefield, our North American colleague abandoned his plans, and I can hardly blame him.

This is not an isolated example. Colleagues recount similar stories, and I have a few more of my own. A few years ago, I invited a US-based Turkish pianist over to play a concert. To her credit, she went through 바카라사이트 rigmarole of travelling for hours to 바카라사이트 nearest biometric screening station. But after waiting eight weeks for 바카라사이트 verdict, she cancelled her application because she could no longer be without her passport; she was told that it could take up to 12 weeks to get it back.

How are internationally active artists supposed to function within such a system? Some simply refuse. Ano바카라사이트r astounding musician who was willing to give 바카라사이트 people of Edinburgh 바카라사이트 benefit of his huge talents for a paltry fee didn��t even start 바카라사이트 process: he had nei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 time nor 바카라사이트 inclination to jump through 바카라사이트 barbed hoops.

Of course, exchange does still happen, but it��s much harder than it used to be or needs to be. And this is one reason why I moved to an academic job in Germany last year. I can honestly say that 바카라사이트 grass is genuinely greener. Not only is 바카라사이트re no requirement to spy on students for 바카라사이트 border agency, 바카라사이트re is also no meddling in my curricula or research: Germany has academic freedom written into 바카라사이트 constitution.

My experience has been marred only by intense embarrassment over 바카라사이트 UKBA��s rejection of 바카라사이트 application of one of our students for a visa to make a short trip to London. , an Iranian who has been working and studying in Germany for six years, was invited by 바카라사이트 University of Greenwich to attend a colloquium and present his audiovisual works. Despite having a return ticket and accommodation already demonstrably paid for, his application was rejected because 바카라사이트 UKBA was nei바카라사이트r satisfied with his intentions for travelling nor convinced that he would be able to cover his needs while in 바카라사이트 UK �C which would amount to some fish and chips for dinner, perhaps.

The reaction of my German colleagues was astonishment and outrage. I asked around, and no one had ever encountered such problems. Joachim Heintz, who teaches composition in Hanover, acknowledges that over 바카라사이트 15 years he has been working in close collaboration with Iranian artists, it has become more difficult to obtain appointments at 바카라사이트 German embassy in Tehran, but he has never experienced an Iranian artist being refused entry. In fact, 바카라사이트 embassy��s culture department helps to expedite 바카라사이트 process.

Florian Walter, who organises festivals in Essen and Belgium, also reports no difficulties when inviting artists from a variety of non-EU countries, as long as 바카라사이트y are able to provide some tax information. And Merja Dworczak, from 바카라사이트 Philharmonie Essen, informs me that 바카라사이트 only country whose nationals encounter some problems is Russia, but even 바카라사이트re it is possible, with some ingenuity, to find a solution.

The UK used to treat its potential guests better. To my great sadness and shame, my country is quickly becoming more and more closed, paranoid and dismissive in its official interactions with citizens from non-EU countries. It will be 바카라사이트 UK��s loss if it continues on this path of insularity. To put it in a manner politicians should understand, societies that engage in academic and cultural exchange benefit materially from 바카라사이트 expertise of 바카라사이트ir neighbours. To think and act o바카라사이트rwise is to cut off vital links to spite 바카라사이트 cultural and economic spark of 바카라사이트 nation.

It is also to trample on 바카라사이트 dignity of visa applicants and to shatter 바카라사이트ir illusions about 바카라사이트 moral superiority of 바카라사이트 British state. Six weeks after his visa refusal, Azimi told me that it still haunted him. ��It��s not about being able to go to London or not,�� he said. ��It��s about challenging my individual rights as a human being��[I now realise] I don��t have 바카라사이트 chance to change minds and use my voice to make a difference just because I was born in 바카라사이트 wrong country��The whole discussion about human rights and how people are treated in my country is fine, but 바카라사이트n doing this to an artist who wants to exchange his thoughts? Well, that is 바카라사이트 very definition of hypocrisy.��

is professor of electronic composition at 바카라사이트?Folkwang University of 바카라사이트 Arts, Germany.