Johannesburg - In what has been described as an alternative form of censorship, a prominent academic has been denied a visa to attend a conference in the UK for allegedly being a threat to the country’s national security.
The executive director of the Afro-Middle East Centre, Na’eem Jeenah, is known in the Muslim community for his pro-Palestinian views.
After applying for a UK visa from the British Home Office in October, he heard back from the British High Commissioner only six months later.
The refusal letter states: “You have applied to attend a conference in the United Kingdom for a period of seven days. I have considered the circumstances of your application.
“I am not satisfied that your reasons for wanting to visit the United Kingdom are of a sufficiently compelling nature to override my belief that your exclusion from the United Kingdom is conducive to the public good on national security grounds.”
Jeenah described the rejection as spurious and without merit as he had never done anything to threaten another country’s national security.
“I have no idea why this has happened. My main work is as an academic. I provide research to various governments and I work with numerous embassies. I would like a real explanation,” he said.
Since the rejection letter was issued, a petition on social media has garnered more than 170 signatures from academics and other individuals across the world to request a reversal of the UK Home Office’s decision.
The petition was handed over on Thursday afternoon.
The British High Commission’s head of communication, Hooman Nouruzi, declined to comment.
“We do not comment on individual applications publicly,” he said.
Muslim Judicial Council spokeswoman Nabeweya Malick said that while the general local Islamic community was unlikely to be refused access to other countries, prominent and vocal academics were more likely to be targeted.
“He has always been critical of Israel and is a pro-Palestinian activist. This is a way to damp the spirit of activists by preventing them from spreading their views. What does this say about democracy if an activist cannot speak? If a journalist cannot write? This is censorship,” said Malick.
The Star