Swearing Allegiance to the flag of a new country

I want absolute proof that immigrants love this country.

Who’s read the book Papillon by that old French rogue, Henri Charrière? He dedicated his book ‘To the people of Venezuela, to the humble fishermen of the Gulf of Paria, to all those, intellectuals, soldiers and others who gave me my chance to make a new life.’

Please stay with me because I’m going somewhere with this, and it’s important.  

If you haven’t read the book, it should definitely be on your bucket list. In a nutshell Charrière, nicknamed Papillon because of a butterfly tattooed on his chest, was sentenced for a murder he didn’t commit to transportation for life and was taken on a prison ship bound for a French penal colony in French Guiana, South America.

Here he found himself in an exceptionally tough and untamed world where exploitation, extortion and murder were prevalent. The penal colony was known for its harsh treatment of criminals, but he was well equipped for this. Steadfast and loyal to his friends, inflexible in his hostility towards the establishment, it’s quite clear he’d be able to fit in easily. Except for one thing …..

….. he had absolutely no intention whatsoever of staying, and his first escape was made after just 42 days. Thus followed 14 escapes over a 13-year period. He spent time at a leper’s colony, was ‘shipwrecked’ off the coast of Curaçao, imprisoned in Columbia where he escaped again, reaching hostile Indian territory alone and on foot. They took him in, giving him two wives, both of which he impregnated, but although this was an idyllic life of doing little else but lovemaking and pearl-diving, his desire for revenge on the prosecuting council and all the members of the jury back in France led him to leave.

He was captured and sent back to the Île Saint-Joseph, where he spent two years in solitary. Unbelievably he gives an intensely passionate account of the silence, isolation and timelessness of these two years. Upon release from solitary, he immediately set about another escape attempt, but a fellow prisoner informed on him. Papillon killed him and was sentenced to a further eight years in solitary, although this time they were allowed a daily walk down to the sea. After 18 months, he risked his life to save a little girl – one of the warden’s daughters – from shark-infested waters. He was released back into General Population, to find that France was at war (WWII) and the penalty for escape attempts was death.

But that wasn’t to stop him, and when Papillon finally escaped from Devil’s Island (Île du Diable) on a couple of sacks filled with coconuts, he eventually reached Venezuela and the Venezuelans gave him a chance, allowing him to become a Venezuelan citizen and to settle down and live in Caracas as ‘quietly as his fantastic vitality would allow.’

On 5th July 1956, Papillon swore allegiance to the flag of his new country, a country that had endorsed his citizenship, even though they were very aware of his past. They played the national anthem and three hundred people stood and swore allegiance to the Venezuelan flag. Papillon recalls tears flowing down his cheeks and claims that nobody roared out the words of the anthem of his new country louder than him, or swore allegiance to his ‘new flag’ with more sincerity - ‘Abajo cadenas …’ – Down with the chains.

He’d been condemned by his mother-country to a fate worse than death for a crime he didn’t commit, and despite that Venezuela was willing to give him a second chance – ‘Those were not qualities that could ever come from Europeans; so the Venezuelans must have got them from the Indians.’

Alright, if you’ve stuck with me so far, where am I going with this? Well, this is a measure of how much it meant to Henri Charrière, after all his adventures, to finally find a nation that would take him in and offer him citizenship.  I mention this because I think it’s exactly the attitude we’re looking for from those who the UK reaches out a helping hand to.

We want to know, in fact we have a right to know, and should DEMAND to know, whether immigrants to this country truly love England and truly appreciate everything we’ve done for them

Are they willing to pledge allegiance to the Union Jack and the St. George Cross? Are they willing to display it proudly on their front lawns? Are they grateful that England gives them license to do, think and worship as they wish? This license was paid for by the blood of millions of patriots who over the years have given their lives to preserve it

Are they willing to pray daily that Allah will bless this nation?

I want to see Arab-Muslims showing their appreciation of all that we hold dear and all that we’ve done for them by waving the Union Jack in the streets. I want to hear them chanting ‘Allah Bless England.’ 

After all, some refugees owe England EVERYTHING. Some owe us their very LIVES. Surely, they should be showing their appreciation.

Is that too much to ask?