(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A group of prominent South Africans have sent a petition to the British home secretary expressing outrage over the denial of a visa to a prominent academic and the deportation of an award-winning author, both of whom hail from South Africa.
"The Concerned Africans Forum (CAF) sent a petition on Monday to British Home Secretary Theresa May objecting to the treatment meted out to our citizens," CAF member Garh le Pere told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
Last week, South African author Ishtiyaq Shukri was detained € and later deported € from London's Heathrow Airport. The author of "The Silent Minaret" € a novel that won the 2004 European Union Literary Award € had traveled to the U.K. to visit his British wife at their London in home.
Despite having been a permanent U.K. resident for 18 years, Shukuri was arrested, searched and interrogated for nine hours before being deported back to South Africa.
His permanent residence status, which had allowed him to stay in the U.K. indefinitely, was also revoked.
In a statement, Shukri's publisher, Jacana Media, said the reason given for his deportation was that his last visit to the U.K. € in 2012 € had transpired more than two years ago.
"He was also questioned about his visits to Yemen and the nature of his wife's work there," the publisher's statement read.
The statement further noted that, at the time of her visits to Yemen, Shukuri's wife had served as Yemen country director for Oxfam, one of the U.K.'s most prominent international humanitarian aid agencies.
'National security'
Meanwhile, South African academic Na'eem Jeenah, executive director of the Afro-Middle East Center, was also denied a visa to the U.K. for reasons of "national security."
Jeenah, a prominent member of South Africa's Muslim community, had been invited to attend a conference hosted by the prestigious European Council on Foreign Relations, but was likewise denied a visa.
"It took six months for the British High Commission to respond, and when he went to collect his passport, he was told he was being denied entry on national security grounds," le Pere told Anadolu Agency.
In their petition, members of CAF € who include former South African ministers, diplomats and academics € also called on the U.K. government to reverse its decision against Jeenah.
"Our petition challenges the reasons given for denying him a visa. Jeenah was going to the U.K. for academic reasons even though he has been there before," said le Pere.
The CAF believes the moves both represent cases of religious profiling.
"We want the U.K. to revoke its decision because this might affect Jeenah's future travel to other countries, like Australia, where he has a family," le Pere said.
He went on to warn that the U.K. was setting an "unacceptable precedent" by refusing South African Muslims entry to the country.
Shukri and Jeenah are both Muslims. The British High Commission, for its part, does not usually comment publicly on matters involving individual applications.
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