7 ms·

When I did some overland traveling in Africa this was extremely common. At the border crossing between Mauritania and Senegal there was a little "immigration"

by stef25 6y ago

When I did some overland traveling in Africa this was extremely common. At the border crossing between Mauritania and Senegal there was a little "immigration" hut where you'd have to get your passport stamped. One very well dressed official in Ray-Bans just took people's passports and set them on a pile and they'd stay there for hours unless you'd slip in a bank note. All he had to was stamp them, nothing else. Other travellers I was with refused to "take part in this corruption", I happily gave the guy a fee and was on my way. It's either that or standing around in the scorching sun for hours mobbed by begging locals. At every checkpoint you'd have police / military with Kalashnikovs asking for a "petit cadeau" (little gift). At first they're very intimidating but after a while you realise they're totally harmless and will just let you pass if you just say "no sorry". Most are extremely bored and just happy to see you. In the Western Sahara they'd even invite us to some tea, teach us a few words of Arabic and one of them even asked "you, give me laptop?" Yeah sure buddy! Preloading one with a keylogger could be fun! One guy traveling with us in a car told the story of when he first drove in Africa. In Senegal he got pulled over and police fined him 50$ cause he didn't have a danger triangle. The next year he got pulled over again and proudly showed them the triangle but he was fined 50$ again cause he didn't have 2x danger triangles. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. Good times.

azalemeth 6y ago
My dad (a retired airline pilot) ran a flight school in Kenya at some point before I was born. He was a high-up examiner in the Kenyan aviation scene. He eventually left after being shot at for not taking bribes, and routinely saw e.g. partially sighted pilots saying things like "Tally-ho chaps I'm coming in" on the radio at their favourite light aircraft airfield and the runway / taxiway just emptying as everyone legged it. Corruption has a huge cost.
- NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
  A propos: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/business/pakistan-fake-pilot-intl-hnk/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/business/pakistan-fake-pilot-... Pakistan's civil aviation authority believed up to a third of commercial pilots in the country did not actually pass their pilot licensing exams.
rob74 6y ago
> I happily gave the guy a fee and was on my way the rest of your text makes it abundantly clear that it was a bribe, so why call it a fee? Unless you got an official receipt for it, which I highly doubt...
- syops 6y ago
  The style of writing indicates to me at least that OP was not writing to be technically precise to this level. Since it is abundantly clear to you that the payment was a bribe then isn’t the natural conclusion that it was a bribe and that “fee” was used to convey the idea that there was a cost involved that couldn’t be avoided?
  - nickkell 6y ago
    I don't think it's about being pedantic, but rather the idea of using something like a euphemism to lessen the impact of the act. If the OP had used quotes, like you yourself did, this would have made it obvious that they recognised it's a bribe in all but name. It's important to remember that this site is international and not every linguistic nuance is intentional.
- NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
  I think there's a real difference between a "facilitation payment" and a "bribe". In each case, the official intends to use their position for personal benefit - and yes that is clearly problematic - but in the former case, the payer has no corrupt intent.
  - prepend 6y ago
    > payer has no corrupt intent. It’s just the scale. A “facilitation payment” is a small bribe. The payer of any bribe is participating in a corrupt system. Paying $1 to get your passport stamped is small, but it still is bad. Think of all the poor people who don’t have $1 and get hosed by this.
    - 6y ago
helloplanets 6y ago
This heavily reminds me of Papers, Please [1] by Lucas Pope. Great game and a good example of how to tell a story through mechanics rather than a linear storyline. [1] https://papersplea.se https://papersplea.se
bradstewart 6y ago
I've seen similar things all over poorer regions of Central and South America as well. My take on this: I'm paying a portion of the salary of the immigration official, police officer, etc. For better or worse, that's often how they feed their families.
- el-salvador 6y ago
  Doing the "right thing" is also hard. Paying a fine instead of a bribe could mean waiting 10 days for your license to be returned. Our traffic laws are also very inconsistent here so it's very easy to make mistakes abroad: Like Honduras requires two traffic triangles, but others only one. Nicaragua prohibits changing lanes in roundabouts, but it is allowed elsewhere. El Salvador enforces speed where there are no speed limit signs while Guatemala enforces them where there are many signs. And so on.
  - sha1 6y ago
    Then how do Nicaraguans get out of roundabouts?

by stef25 6y ago

azalemeth 6y ago

My dad (a retired airline pilot) ran a flight school in Kenya at some point before I was born. He was a high-up examiner in the Kenyan aviation scene. He eventually left after being shot at for not taking bribes, and routinely saw e.g. partially sighted pilots saying things like "Tally-ho chaps I'm coming in" on the radio at their favourite light aircraft airfield and the runway / taxiway just emptying as everyone legged it. Corruption has a huge cost.

NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
A propos: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/business/pakistan-fake-pilot-intl-hnk/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/business/pakistan-fake-pilot-... Pakistan's civil aviation authority believed up to a third of commercial pilots in the country did not actually pass their pilot licensing exams.

rob74 6y ago

> I happily gave the guy a fee and was on my way the rest of your text makes it abundantly clear that it was a bribe, so why call it a fee? Unless you got an official receipt for it, which I highly doubt...

syops 6y ago
The style of writing indicates to me at least that OP was not writing to be technically precise to this level. Since it is abundantly clear to you that the payment was a bribe then isn’t the natural conclusion that it was a bribe and that “fee” was used to convey the idea that there was a cost involved that couldn’t be avoided?
- nickkell 6y ago
  I don't think it's about being pedantic, but rather the idea of using something like a euphemism to lessen the impact of the act. If the OP had used quotes, like you yourself did, this would have made it obvious that they recognised it's a bribe in all but name. It's important to remember that this site is international and not every linguistic nuance is intentional.
NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
I think there's a real difference between a "facilitation payment" and a "bribe". In each case, the official intends to use their position for personal benefit - and yes that is clearly problematic - but in the former case, the payer has no corrupt intent.
- prepend 6y ago
  > payer has no corrupt intent. It’s just the scale. A “facilitation payment” is a small bribe. The payer of any bribe is participating in a corrupt system. Paying $1 to get your passport stamped is small, but it still is bad. Think of all the poor people who don’t have $1 and get hosed by this.
  - 6y ago

helloplanets 6y ago

This heavily reminds me of Papers, Please [1] by Lucas Pope. Great game and a good example of how to tell a story through mechanics rather than a linear storyline. [1] https://papersplea.se https://papersplea.se

bradstewart 6y ago

I've seen similar things all over poorer regions of Central and South America as well. My take on this: I'm paying a portion of the salary of the immigration official, police officer, etc. For better or worse, that's often how they feed their families.

el-salvador 6y ago
Doing the "right thing" is also hard. Paying a fine instead of a bribe could mean waiting 10 days for your license to be returned. Our traffic laws are also very inconsistent here so it's very easy to make mistakes abroad: Like Honduras requires two traffic triangles, but others only one. Nicaragua prohibits changing lanes in roundabouts, but it is allowed elsewhere. El Salvador enforces speed where there are no speed limit signs while Guatemala enforces them where there are many signs. And so on.
- sha1 6y ago
  Then how do Nicaraguans get out of roundabouts?