While I loved your story and agree with all your points, I should note there’s a big difference between having an immigration website in English and having one in pretty much any other language.
Yeah, in order to find the site again for the purpose of this post I had to switch search engines as well.
Also doesn't make it easier that a minority of the crew spoke good English. Most are only comfortable in French. I imagine most Brits would struggle if they had to dig up obscure government websites in French that they had no idea even existed.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
cabbage@piefed.social 1 day ago
Yeah, but it needs to be announced somehow. We all filled in ETAs, because this is something people have heard about. It would make sense to inform of something like this at the end of the ETA registration. Instead, the fact that I had a travel authorization lead me to believe that I was, in fact, authorized to travel to the UK.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Oh yes, like I said I agree entirely with your post
cute_noker@feddit.dk 1 day ago
If one has travelled outside of ones country, surely there is no doubt that one can nod agreeingly to the BS of navigating the legal system of another language, culture, where you don’t follow the news-stream
cabbage@piefed.social 1 day ago
Of course, I wouldn't expect the UK government to produce information in French. However there is a traditional way of doing things: You fly a yellow flag, and you report to a port of entry upon arrival.
If this is changed without being very publisized, it is really stupid not to at least have a transition period where people can still register their entry into the country after their arrival, until the new rules are well established and the website that is supposed to be serving them is out of beta testing.
If you want to sail from the UK to France, you just raise the appropriate flags, and then you announce your arrival when you get there. Ask in the harbour and they'll let you know where to go. So you wouldn't have to navigate their legal system, you just need to know how to use flags.
That said, I had no problem being in the UK illegally, so no real complaints from my part. It just seems like an attempt at tightening control of the borders that ended up having the exact opposite effect.