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A lesson for travellers who think your passport should be in the hotel safe

A lesson for travellers who think your passport should be in the hotel safe

Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 07:10 AM
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I wonder if BDKR & Myer are the same person.

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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 10:21 AM
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Racism , nationalism and anti Semitism exist in numerous countries, the
Eastern Bloc ( including former East Germany ) has to some extra embraced right wing
governments and / or nationalism.
Some travellers will not visit Russia or China..or ..
most people don’t care about the history , few know much about the WWII.


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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 11:28 AM
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I do carry my passport with me because I honestly can’t imagine trusting a hostel with it. I used my Costco card for security deposit because I don’t even trust them with my EDL. It’d cost me a pretty penny if they misplaced either.

but the “black men were stopped because black people are suspicious off season” is pretty much the classic definition of racism and such a justification is appalling. Who cares if you had neither slavery nor colonialism when that BS is happening in 21st century Croatia. I’ve been the only American tourist in Eastern Germany villages, and off the beaten path Japanese towns, and never have I thought they’d deport me because it’s “suspicious” I’m visiting off season.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 12:29 PM
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the refugees from different countries often reach Bosnia in hope to enter Croatia and
the West. ( EU)The harsh measures to stop them are implemented
in Croatia , Hungary and probably other other places. That might have been the reason for the deportation. Who knows.
There have been reports of very bad conditions in camps in Bosnia where many refugees are stuck.
The winter can be harsh ,Bosnia is a poor country without means to provide for them.
Sad.

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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 01:52 PM
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Here is a black girl who travelled around Eastern Europe(including Croatia) and experienced no racism anywhere.

http://theamerikanka.com/black-perso.../#.Xf8utPx7nIU

One anecdote deserves another, or more.
My daughter (white) traveled with a Black female friend. That was in 1997, and they went to Budapest, Prague and Berlin. They did not like Budapest because of the racism they experienced. Of the three, Berlin was their favorite city. But my cousin who is Berlin born and bred warned them not to travel 20 km. outside the city.

In 2005 we were staying in Gura Humorului while visiting Bucovina. Our car had Hungarian plates. Driving in Suceava we were stopped by the police for some type of minor violation. I showed my American passport and they just let us drive on with a warning. Would the same thing have occurred with a Hungarian passport?

Different times, different mores:
In 1975 we were driving a Honda Civic with Danish plates in Eastern Europe. In Prague I changed lanes at an intersection and upon seeing my driver's license and passport the policemen who stopped us made it clear that he wanted cash. A ten dollar bill resolved the situation.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 05:55 PM
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"I’ve been the only American tourist in Eastern Germany villages, and off the beaten path Japanese towns, and never have I thought they'd deport me because it’s “suspicious” I’m visiting off season."

A white American tourist in Germany is not suspicious since they can't be easily distinguished from locals, until they open their mouth. A gaijin in a small Japanese town is suspicious, but Japanese are pretty relaxed about foreigners since the only way to get in to the country is by flight or ship and who can get in is under strict control. That said I can easily imagine that the local policeman noticed you and sized you up without you noticing them. They put you in the no threat category(harmless tourist).

"but the “black men were stopped because black people are suspicious off season” is pretty much the classic definition of racism and such a justification is appalling."

No that's not racism. They were suspicious because blacks in Zagreb outside the tourist season are only a slightly more common sight than Tibetan monks in Alaska. Police officers are trained to look out for anything or anyone out of the ordinary, that's how they work. They might stop for example a scruffy backpacker loitering outside a 5 star hotel, because he is suspicous there and than. They don't care about a scruffy backapcker at the railway station because that fits in the normal picture. Plus, there could have been some extra circumstances making these Nigerian guys suspicious which were not reported or known only to these policemen. Being in a part of the town where tourists normally don't go?

But honestly, why they're stopped is pretty irrelevant in this story. It's up to the discretion of policemen who they stop and check. That is their job. Getting stopped by policeman may be annoying or even scary, but they're just doing their job to make you be safe.

"Who cares if you had neither slavery nor colonialism when that BS is happening in 21st century Croatia."

It looks like this BS could easily happen(or perhaps already happened several times) in the USA as well, the difference is that the policemen in Croatia were apparently breaking the law and most certainly common sense, but in the USA it is the law, to immediately deport foreigners without a document. I think we should extend the advice: Black travellers should always carry their passport in Croatia to Latino travellers in the USA. Look, that's why I suggested FFS that simply everyone should keep their passport with them all the time anywhere.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49079495

Last edited by BDKR; Dec 22nd, 2019 at 06:30 PM.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 06:13 PM
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@ Michael

"My daughter (white) traveled with a Black female friend. That was in 1997, and they went to Budapest, Prague and Berlin. They did not like Budapest because of the racism they experienced."

Do you know what happened to the Black friend of your daughter in Budapest?

As I said, I never denied that racism exists in Hungary or Croatia, but I can't believe it is more prevalent than anywhere else. As you can read in the articles I linked you could spend years in this region as Black expat and not experience any racism or as in the case of your daughter friend you can have bad luck and run into 1-2 racist idiots on a long weekend stay.

A few months ago a Nigerian DJ coming to perform with Will Smith was spat on by an old witch(I think lady is not fitting in this case) in the middle of Budapest, just like that. I guess and I hope he never experienced something like that in his life, so if he'd be the kind of person to make generalisations he would have every reason to say that Budapest is the most racist city in the world(which is of course couldn't be further from the truth).


Last edited by BDKR; Dec 22nd, 2019 at 06:25 PM.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 06:43 PM
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"the refugees from different countries often reach Bosnia in hope to enter Croatia and
the West. ( EU)The harsh measures to stop them are implemented
in Croatia , Hungary and probably other other places. That might have been the reason for the deportation. Who knows."

Exactly, that was not a question. They were kicked out to Bosnia because the police officers thought that's where they entered Croatia, as most illegal immigrants do. They were not given the chance to prove their innocence.(I mean they're given only 1 chance: Show your passports now, or you'll be deported). I write kicked out, because deportation is a legal procedure, it's not taking someone to the border(not the border crossing!) and told to get lost or we'll shoot you.

Last edited by BDKR; Dec 22nd, 2019 at 06:48 PM.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2019, 11:30 PM
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It's exactly what would have happened in France. It's curious how the French government doesn't get the same media attention for doing far worse. Lets not forget the French government has kicked out pregnant women that have died on the forced march into Italy.

The BBC had it's own article on the event. They mentioned a couple of things. It's not unusual for people to over stay valid visas. The two who had allegedly been forced out had already checked out of their hotel.
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