UMDiaspora Appalled by Humiliation of Macedonian Folklore Group by British Embassy

UMDiaspora demands an inquiry and an investigation to the recent embarrassing events outside the British Embassy in the Republic of Macedonia regarding the alleged abuse toward the members of the folklore group, “Gotse Delchev”.

WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 6th, 2005 –– The United Macedonian Diaspora demands an inquiry and an investigation as to the recent embarrassing events outside the British Embassy in the Republic of Macedonia. Several independent reports substantiate that British embassy officials acted beyond the scope of commonplace regulatory procedures used for issuing visas to the Folklore Group, “Gotse Delchev” during the groups’ attempt to obtain visas for an International Dance Festival in Llangollen, England.

According to independent reports, British Embassy officials clearly abused their discretion in what usually is a routine and administrative process. Specifically, the Embassy officials took advantage of under aged youths, cajoled the youths into performing disgraceful acts, and then implored unethical and humiliating tactics that are obviously not part of British Embassy protocol.

Reports say that British Embassy officials:

Asked the Folklore Group to dance in front of the Embassy in order to prove that they were dancers. Subsequently, the dancers reported that they felt humiliated and used after their national folk dance was made fun of;
Singled out under aged female dancers and asked them for their cell phone numbers for non-Embassy use;
Offered substances other than tobacco to smoke; and,
Ridiculed the ethnic Macedonian youths because of their cultural identity.

After this highly irregular and unprecedented process, visas were not issued to all members of the Folklore Group and therefore the group had to cancel the trip. The United Macedonian Diaspora understands that every Embassy has the irreproachable right to issue visas to whomever they deem fit. However, this case clearly spells out a breech in trust with the citizens of the Embassy’s host country. British Embassy officials were ethically and morally out of line with their behavior towards impressionable, under aged youth. This behavior is not only unethical, but also immoral and unacceptable by any standard.

The United Macedonian Diaspora respectfully requests that all accused British Embassy officials be investigated and sanctioned in accord with objective professional standards of review. Furthermore, a formal letter of apology to the young Folklore Group “Gotse Delchev” is certainly within reasonable standards of diplomacy and civility.

For more information about United Macedonian Diaspora the public is invited to contact the D.C. office at (202) 294-3400, or e-mail at info@umdiaspora.org

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UMDiaspora Appalled by Humiliation of Macedonian Folklore Group by British Embassy

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