Muslim activist sent back to Australia

High-profile author was slated to speak at US event

SYDNEY: A high-profile Australian author and Muslim activist was refused entry to the United States and put on a plane home after arriving for a speaking engagement, sparking calls for a rethink by border officials.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied, an advocate for youth, women and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, said she was stopped at immigration and ordered out of the country.

“Roughly three hours since touch down in Minneapolis, I’m on a plane back,” she tweeted.

“Well, guess that tightening of immigration laws business is working, despite my Australian passport. We’re taking off now.”

A statement by US Customs and Border Protection, cited by Australian media, said she did not have the right visa.

Abdel-Magied was due to appear in New York to discuss online hate against Muslims and the difficulties of being a young Muslim woman in Western countries at a forum organised by PEN International, a freedom of expression organisation.

PEN America chief Suzanne Nossel said she was dismayed by the decision and understood it was the same type of visa used previously for similar trips without issue.

She said the purpose of the PEN World Voices Festival, founded after the 9/11 attacks, was to sustain links between the US and the wider world.

This, she said, was being jeopardised “by efforts at visa bans and tightened immigration restrictions” which threatened “to choke off vital channels of dialogue that are protected under the First Amendment right to receive and impart information through in-person cultural exchange”.

“We call on Customs and Border to admit her to the US so that she can take her rightful place in the urgent international conversation to take place at the festival next week.” — AFP