Subject: U.S. Consular Officials' Behavior
From: Center for Civil Society International (ccsi@u.washington.edu)
Date: Wed Oct 27 1999 - 01:33:06 EDT
This comment is X-posted from the Johnson list <davidjohnson@erols.com>.
It refers to an earlier article describing the increasing difficulty
Russian citizens face who request visas for travel to the U.S.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999
From: Ronald Pope <73123.3543@compuserve.com>
Subject: Visa Embarrassment
The excellent NY Times article by Michael Gordon (JRL #3582) left out one
very important negative aspect of the visa problem. Even when visas are
granted, the Russian applicants are frequently treated extremely rudely.
When I brought this to the attention of then Ambassador Thomas Pickering,
he acknowledged that rudeness was never appropriate. One former State
Department employee who had worked in the Consular Section said that she
was often embarrassed by the behavior of her colleagues. Unfortunately,
this problem hasn't been corrected. As Ambassador Pickering acknowledged,
there is NO excuse for rudeness, even when a visa is denied.
In addition to this point, as the Times article indicates, the Consular
Service is doing the U.S. a tremendous disservice when it denies visas to
eligible students, scholars, and others. Even if many of them do find
ways to stay on in the U.S.--legally or otherwise--America benefits more
times than not. These are very bright, hard working people who are making
a substantial contribution to our current prosperity. (Please note all
the recent American Nobel Prize winners who speak English with a clear
accent!)
Of course it is best when students and others return to Russia immediately
to help with the desperately needed restructuring--and every effort should
be made to encourage them to do so. However, arbitrarily denying visas is
NOT the appropriate policy.
Many of those who don't go back when they have completed their education
or teaching assignment may very well return at a later date. In addition,
those who stay provide a trusted source of information on the "real
America" that often effectively counters Russian myth and propaganda.
For example, an emigre friend wrote that during a recent phone
conversation his relatives in Russia asked him about alleged "hysterical
anti-Russian sentiment" in America. His surprised gasp and silence was
all the answer they needed in order to conclude that they weren't being
told the truth.
The young men and women serving in the Consular Service in Moscow--and in
all U.S. Embassies around the world--need to receive very clear
instructions from their supervisors concerning acceptable behavior during
interviews. Most important, the current trend toward increased denials of
academic visas needs to be reviewed. Congress has to take ultimate
responsibility. If a part of the U.S. government is clearly acting
against U.S. interests, maybe some personnel changes need to be made.
Ronald Pope, President
Serendipity: Russian Consulting & Development, Ltd.
www.serendipity-russia.com
Associate Professor of Russian Politics
Illinois State University
*----------------------------------------------------------*
| CivilSoc is an electronic news and information service |
| provided free of charge to 1,500 subscribers worldwide. |
| CivilSoc is a project of CCSI--Center for Civil Society |
| International in Seattle, in association with Friends |
| & Partners. For more information about civic initia- |
| tives in nations of the former USSR and elsewhere, |
| visit CCSI's web site at: www.friends-partners.org/ccsi |
| ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' |
| To subscribe, or to access the archives of CivilSoc, go |
| to: www.friends-partners.org/ccsi/info/civilsoc.htm |
| CCSI's non-list e-mail address: ccsi@u.washington.edu |
*----------------------------------------------------------*
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a22 : Wed Oct 27 1999 - 01:33:25 EDT