[Opinion]

I am a British citizen, not a second class citizen

Great Britain does not have a national motto. What it does have is a motto for the monarchy.

Dieu et mon droit.

Which in English reads as , God and my right.

In this land of right, righteousness and rule, there is Jamal Osman.

Jamal Osman. African. Muslim. Journalist. Citizen of Great Britain.

His is not a one-off story. It is a story 'thousands of others' ....The picture he paints is a disturbing one.

The fleeing from terror, asylum, hardship, success - these today are recognizable parts in any story of a refugee done good.

What comes as a surprise is the life after that journey.

I shook my head in disbelief when I read of the blatant threats, bullying and intimidation that Osman faces now.

The Authority engaging in racial profiling? Religious discrimination? Physical threats?

It cannot be. This is the Great Britain.

Osman details his being singled out, repeatedly ( because of his Colour? Name? place of birth? ) at the hands of the UK security services. Someone told me, "well it doesn't happen as much as it does in Sri Lanka."

Then I heard, "and, even if it does, you can't hide it (...) this is UK!". The final reasoning was "the media will expose it, and they [the baddies] won't get away with it."

The fact is that a public figure has come out and spoken of his ordeals at the hands of the Establishment is not a testament to free speech.

Who he was, a reputed journalist gave him both the access to to publicise and in a certain protection in doing so.

Reading about his experiences struck fear in me. More so because it was happening in a place that is believed to be safe.

Somewhere in the world, that the world itself has painted to be safe.

This image has been so successful, that Osman's story is simply unbelievable.

Of course, in countries like, say, Sri Lanka for example, this story would be wholly believable. But let us not compare UK and Sri Lanka.

The two countries have different standing in the global scheme of things. Let's look at things from all angles. Let's even the playing field.

Let's hope that for Jamal Osman, this media expose will lead to public outcry, will lead to political intervention to an inquiry, to a commission and a report. Maybe some action. Decades later. Still pending. Like the Troubles.

The letter

If you are British and think that every British citizen enjoys the same rights, my story and those of thousands of others should convince you otherwise.

I arrived in Britain in 1999 having fled Somalia and my stay was approved a year later.

During that time I was given accommodation and a weekly food voucher worth 35 Sterling Pounds. For this I will always be grateful.

As soon as I was permitted to seek employment I started looking for a job. I worked in a laundry, a warehouse and as a taxi driver - simply to survive. Later I trained to become a journalist.I joined Channel 4 and did frequent travelling.

And that is when my nightmare at the hands of Britain's security services began. I have been detained, questioned and been stopped.

I have received regular phone calls from people I believe to be Special Branch, who invite me for a "chat over coffee".

"No thanks, I don't drink coffee", I reply.

As someone who appears on television regularly it is not unusual for strangers to greet you in the street or even ask questions about a particular story you've done.

But the people who follow me on the street - the spies (I call them 'the Vauxhall guys") - have a different approach.

After introducing themselves by their first names they declare their interest.

Would I like a chat and a coffee. It won't take long. Their hunting ground is London's Victoria station, which I use regularly.

I go to the EU and British passport holders' queue when returning through Heathrow airport; I observe with interest as fellow travellers file smoothly past border control.

Yet when I approach, trouble always follows.

"Where are you from?", "How did you obtain a British passport?", "Have you ever been in trouble with immigration?" I answer all their questions courteously and respectfully until the inevitable happens and the official says: "Take a seat, I will be back."

Returning from my most recent trip, I took my regular seat near the control desk. Half an hour later a grey-suited man sat next to me. "Hello, how are you?" he asked.

"Are you from Somalia? I hear from other Somalis that things are improving now. That is what I would like to talk to you about."

I told him that I didn't particularly want to talk about Somalia and that I just wanted to go home. "Don't try and be difficult", he snapped at me.

"I'll detain you if you don't answer my questions".

And so it continued for another 15 minutes, during which he continued with his threats and with calling me an "idiot" and a "bad person", claiming "you will die angry and the world would be a better place without people like you".

Finally he compared me to "the racist thugs we are fighting".

If carrying a British passport doesn't necessarily make you feel British. I am a journalist.

I am an immigrant and a refugee - but I am still made to feel like an asylum seeker.

I am a Muslim, an African and a British citizen. Please treat me like one.

God and my right isn't so.

John 8:7

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,"Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.