'The genuine have been affected by UK visa requirement' – Moore
British High Commissioner bids farewell to Namibia
With his retirement as British High Commissioner to Namibia, Charles Moore shares the highlights and challenges of the past four years.
"The one thing I regret is that the people who have been most affected [by the visa requirement] are the genuine people who come from Namibia – the government ministers, senior officials and business people who wanted to travel to the UK to do business that they have always done," Namibia's outgoing British High Commissioner, Charles Moore, said in a recent interview with Network Media Hub (NMH).
"The only people who have lost out are the Namibians who we actually wanted to go to the UK and it's a bit of a shame. That's where the controversy stems from. But I also think there's a misunderstanding of it. If we could have stopped it [Namibians travelling to the UK without visas and then applying for asylum] in any other way, we would have done so," Moore said.
However, Moore - Namibia's British High Commissioner from 2021 until last week - stressed the Namibian government's innocence in this decision, explaining that it was challenging for him to deal with this issue, given the good diplomatic ties that Namibia and the UK had up to that point.
"It was a challenge to navigate, but that's what diplomacy is all about. We had hundreds of Namibians who went to the UK without a visa and then applied for asylum and it cost us a fortune. There was no other way to address it than to enforce a visa regime. The government here (Namibia) understands that and we have discussed it regularly. There was nothing they could do – it was not their fault. I think it's important to say that we are not punishing Namibia. We had to take a practical measure to stop asylum seekers."
During his tenure as British High Commissioner, trade between Namibia and the UK increased threefold. In his own words, "There were remarkable moments in Namibian history while I was here. I was here with the Covid-19 pandemic, when Dr Hage Geingob died and recently with the inauguration of President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah."
Moore admits that the country has crept into his heart and as a keen photographer he has also used the Namibian landscape as inspiration.
"It has been a tremendous honour to get to know the country and to be able to see all parts of this country. To go around and understand the cultures and photograph the wildlife which is just wonderful. I have had the pleasure of living here for four years, where so many people only touch the outer shell and I am eager for more people to get to know the country and come and visit," Moore said. – [email protected]