THE RIGHT PASSPORT

Another article on the difficulties facing people who come to Greece legally, with contracts or scholarships, when trying to wade through the enormous bureaucratic mess that is so evident here. When I read these stories I thank my lucky stars that I was born in England. When I had to go and let people know I was here, I waited in a long queue for alien registration. At some point, I checked that I had my passport with me. As soon as I had got the thing in my hand, I was plucked out of the queue, led to an office, and dealt with by a very polite and efficient woman. I was out of the place in ten minutes flat. I was elated that I had succeeded to achieve the one task I had set for myself that day (this is one of my survival strategies for living in Greece: never set out to do more than one thing per day). I cannot imagine how I would have reacted if I had been treated in the way that non-EU citizens are. I grew up confident of my rights and expecting to be treated with respect by everyone. For the most part I am treated well here but I have a sneaky suspicion that this has a great deal to do with my passport.