Morinade’s Story | I need to know my childrens’ rights will be protected
Morinade is a Danish citizen of Danish/Nigerian mixed heritage, a mum to two boys with a career in the creative/non-profit sector. She's passionate about ensuring her children's rights are protected now and in the future.
When I moved to London from Copenhagen in September 1997, my plan was to stay for six months as my previous shorter trips were not enough and I wanted to spend more time exploring this exciting international city with a melting pot of cultures, incredible art scene and of course the night life! Turned out I needed even more time and so I did a Master degree and started working. 25 years later I am still here and married with two children minus a break of two and a half years spent in Hong Kong and China due to my husband’s job.
Upping sticks and moving countries is no big deal to me thanks to my parents’ influence. My dad moved from Nigeria to the UK, then to Denmark and back to Nigeria. My mum had left Denmark to work as an Au Pair in the UK and then worked for international aid organisations in what was then Yugoslavia and Nigeria where she met my dad. I was born in Denmark, moved to Nigeria as a child and moved back to Denmark as a teenager I have now lived in the UK for the longest time in any one country.
When Brexit happened, it was a shock to be on the receiving end of what felt like a collective rejection by my adopted country and to have my rights and freedoms threatened. Having to gather years’ worth of evidence and apply to live in a place I had called home for almost 20 years. The government purposefully making it harder by refusing to issue proof of status means I will have to prove my right to be here every time I apply for work, study or enter the country after a trip abroad. Even deciding to move home is much harder because my British husband is no longer an EU citizen.
I was very angry about Brexit. I still am because it will continue to have negative consequences for a long time to come both for EU citizens but also the country. The incendiary rhetoric to turn the British people against Europeans and foreigners in general for votes was disturbing and Theresa May claiming that ‘citizens of the world are citizens of nowhere’ felt like such a narrow minded judgement and denial of my reality and others who have multiple identities and cultures.
I have lived in six countries on three continents and I am proud to call myself a citizen of the world. You engage with the world in a more meaningful way and can embrace and empathise with multiple truths and perspectives which can only be an advantage in our increasingly global world.
The intersectionality of being European and an ethnic minority adds an extra dimension to the concept of belonging and identity post Brexit. I am conscious that my children will continue to be ‘othered’ by individuals and society. I also worry about what will happen to their rights in future and others like them who might be caught up in this situation through no choice of their own.
We have seen the increased hostile environment and treatment of immigrant groups some of who were brought to the UK as children. We have to ensure that the children who have been caught up in the fall out from Brexit are protected now and in the future. They went on the anti-Brexit marches with me and I will continue to fight for them and encourage them to take pride and ownership of their European identity.
