Shreyas Royal is a chess whiz. He is referred to as Britain’s “greatest chess prospect in a generation”. However, this nine-year-old; who has been living in the UK since he was three, is now being asked to leave, thanks to the country's visa and immigration laws. Apparently his father’s income is not high enough (it is less than £120,000 a year) for him to stay on after his visa expires.
From the Facebook page of Shreyas Royal, where the posts narrate a story of great achievements in chess, this appears to be a gifted child who takes his chess seriously.
Many have tweeted in support of Shreyas; particularly fans of chess or those associated with the game. In particular people have called out what they think is an unreasonable income expectation; in view of the fact that only a tiny percentage of British citizens earn this much.
Actor John Cleese, a vocal critic of British politics, particularly in recent times, had this to say. He believes that the impending deportation of Shreyas and his family is tantamount to the government putting money before talent.
It appears that the law governing visa regulations is pretty clear. It seems unlikely that little Shreyas and his family will be allowed to stay as long as the law stands as it is.
Many including Members of Parliament such as Rachel Reeves have appealed for Shreyas to be permitted to stay on in the country in view of his talent. She and others are campaigning to try and keep Shreyas and his family in the UK.
This tweet points out that only about 1% of the population of the UK has an income of over £120,000 a year. In fact, the current Prime Minister Theresa May herself earned less than this amount until she became PM.
This incident highlights the problems and difficult conditions that immigrants face; the unrealistic expectations of government regulations that make it difficult for them to stay on. While the case of Shreyas elicits sympathy and the expectation of special treatment, those others who chose to come to the UK in hope of a better life may have far bleaker prospects. There is the view that these visa regulations are meant to deliberately weed immigrants in keeping with the current anti immigrant stance of the government.
Many have called out the government’s generally anti immigrant stance and the increasingly insular attitude of many Britons post Brexit. While many welcome immigrants as enterprising, dynamic members of their society, many continue to be hostile and resentful towards anyone they see as an ‘outsider’.
Some tweets expressed the view that just because a child is good at a board game which essentially is a posh version of draughts, there should be no exception made while applying the law…because then exceptions could be made for other immigrants as well! A large proportion of people feel that there is no need to make an exception in this case since “we have plenty of our own kids to worry about”. This statement betrays the hostility that so many feel towards immigrants; holding them responsible for problems such as unemployment, rising prices and pressure on resources.
In the USA, it is the President himself who is vociferously against immigrants. In many other parts of the world as well, people are hostile to immigrants and want them out, for reasons imagined or otherwise.
The current situation in India against people viewed as ‘immigrants’ (this one word usually lumps legal and illegal immigrants as well as refugees together) is not much different. So the stance of the British on the Shreyas issue shouldn’t surprise us. It all depends upon which foot the shoe is on.
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