To all of Tawny's readers, I am Martijn, Tawny's/Niraven's husband.
She asked me to let you know of what is currently going on.

Tawny and I were supposed to go to the 25th anniversary Zelda symphony in London on Tuesday; thé biggest event of the year for us, as we are both big Legend of Zelda-fans and that is also how we've met in the first place. Instead of a wonderful day, it became a complete nightmare. While going through customs in Belgium, for boarding the train to England, the Belgian customs official decided that she is illegal, and she was taken into custody. Disregarding that we have been living in the Netherlands without any problems for 4 years, Tawny was considered to be illegal in the European Union and is now in detention, waiting to be sent back to the United States.

I don't quite know what else to tell you at this moment, other than that I will keep you all updated on the situation and ask that you pray for her, as this is so so painful and I can't even visit her until Saturday.

-Martijn



*UPDATE Thursday night*
It is now official: she is going to have to back to the United States. She will probably hear tomorrow which plane she is put on.

When she came here, as an American resident she was allowed to stay here indefinitely. Somewhere in the past 4 years, it was decided to change that to 6 months, without properly communicating it; I've kept a tab on immigration news for a reason! Technically, Belgium did not have the authority to take her into detention though, but that's happened now and there's nothing to do about the change in laws unfortunately. The fact she has been an angel in this country for 4 years, aparantly counts for nothing.

Having figured out a way to call with each other relatively cheap has made a big difference though; it just feels good to at least be able to talk to each other, and I am able to visit her for an hour on Saturday and Sunday.

She wants to thank you very much for those who have sent her text messages on her cell phone. If you want to, you can send her a text on 0031621347178. It feels to her like opening a Christmas present, and doesn't make her feel as lonely. She would love however if you could make some doodles in the comments section, so she has something nice to look forward to when she can finally come back online.

So what now? Well, she has to return to the States for at least 3 months before she can return. There is a chance that she will get a stamp on her passport prohibiting her to return without visa for 1 to 5 years (which she will be able to get, but just takes more paperwork), but since she's cooperated well and it was not an ill-intended of her to stay her 'illegally', there's a good chance she'll just come off with a warning. Either way, the government should not in anyway be allowed to use this as a reason to reject a future application for a residence permit.

We are going to do everything possible so that I can at least visit her for Christmas, and make sure we can treasure every moment together as a loving husband and wife should be able to. In February, Tawny should be able to come back for 3 months to visit her kitties again, and I just need to keep on the search for a job with a 1-year contract.

No matter what happens though, we will be together. Be it in 3 months, half a year or a year, she is my everything and I will never stop doing what it takes to take her home.

*UPDATE Friday night*
Really devastating news unfortunately. After having been kept in suspense, she did not find out today when she will be flying back. It will now take at least until Wednesday until she hears anything, and they said it can be as late as November 9th (2 weeks!) before she will actually fly out.

I am visiting her tomorrow and Sunday, and we're gonna go from there. She does want to let you know that she really appreciates the SMS texts to her phone and all your moral support on her, and please pray for her that things will be resolved very soon.

*UPDATE Friday night, week 2*
Big update on Tawny: she's finally leaving the horrible place in Belgium and flying out to the United States on monday. The past couple of days she's been doing better and been in uplifted spirits. She's started do some things to keep her mind off things, look forward to moving away from all this, she's really treasured your support and I have been able to visit her every other day.


.::Monday, November 7: TAWNY'S FLIGHT BACK TO THE U.S.::.
Tawny just boarded the plane for her (involuntary) return to the U.S. If anyone wants to track the flight(s), you can do so here: www.martijn-muller.net/tawny
Please pray everything will go smoothly and she will arrive safely. At least the "attendants are really sweet" <3

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