Renata Durao Rodrigues da
28 Maret 2025
“No human being is illegal.” – Elie Wiesel
“The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” – Aristotle
What I witnessed at Green Man Pub & Hostel was more than a failure of customer service — it was a failure of humanity and law.
A Brazilian woman, who had lost her passport and was clearly in distress, was not only denied support but treated with cold suspicion, discriminatory behaviour, and overt xenophobia. Instead of empathy, she encountered hostility. Instead of privacy, she was publicly confronted. Instead of dignity, she was forced to justify her very presence — quietly seated, with her luggage beside her.
Staff not only refused to assist her in contacting the Brazilian Embassy — which, under international norms, should have been the first step — but also pressured her to vacate the space, even though she had paid for her stay. This is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), which guarantees the right of every foreign national to consular protection.
Let me be clear: she did not break any laws.
She did not raise her voice.
She did not cause any harm.
Yet, she was treated as if her mere foreignness was an offence.
The situation was so egregious that it resulted in an official police report, which has now been registered with the Metropolitan Police. To date, no representative from the Green Man Pub has offered any response or formal apology, even after direct attempts were made to engage constructively.
This review is not written out of anger, but out of duty. Xenophobia is not just morally wrong — it is institutionally corrosive. It erodes trust, dignity, and the fabric of a civil society.
To other travellers — especially women, immigrants and persons of colour: exercise caution when considering this establishment.
And to management: silence in the face of discrimination is complicity.
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