He has been one of the UK’s favourite and most prominent refugees for two-thirds of a century. Now Paddington Bear – official name Paddington Brown – has been granted a British passport.
The co-producer of the latest Paddington film said the Home Office had issued the specimen document to the fictional Peruvian-born character – listing for completeness the official observation that he is, in fact, a bear.
Aw, innit cute?
Ten years ago, as the first Paddington film was due for release, I quoted Free Movement blog:
Paddington stows away and deliberately avoids the immigration authorities on arrival. He is in formal legal terms an illegal entrant and as such commits a criminal offence under section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971. It is an offence punishable by up to six months in prison. If or when detected by the authorities it is more likely he would simply be removed back to Peru than that he would be prosecuted, though. To avoid that fate he would need to make out a legal basis to stay.
Incidentally, for offering a home to Paddington - or harbouring him, as the Home Office would have it - Mr and Mrs Brown could potentially face prosecution under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971, entitled "Assisting unlawful immigration to member State". The maximum sentence is 14 years.
Whatever Paddington's status now, he didn't have a British passport when he arrived in 2014. So I stand by my reaction then:
"Crikey!" said Jonathan.
1 comment:
In fact Paddington arrived in the UK in or before October 1958. I'm not sure what his immigration status would have been then, but if the Home Office sought to deport him now I expect the public reaction would make the Windrush scandal (where peole only arrived a little earlier) look like a picnic in Hyde Park with marmalade sandwiches.
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