Erbil, Iraq, Jun 25, 2018 / 16:28 pm
Sister Ban Madleen, a Dominican sister from Iraq who had to flee ISIS, has once again been denied entry to the United Kingdom.
Madleen was attempting to visit her sick sister, who lives in the country, but immigration officials said that she had not provided enough evidence that she was not going to overstay her visa and attempt to live in the U.K. permanently. Madleen runs a kindergarten in Iraq and belongs to a religious community there, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena.
The religious sister first attempted to obtain a visa to the U.K. in April, but was denied. Government officials said that she had failed to demonstrate that she made a sufficient income as a school principal, and she had not shown that her community would be funding her trip. The denial letter also questioned why she had not visited the U.K. since 2011, when she was last granted a visa.
Madleen, along with the rest of her community, was forced to flee the Christian town of Qaraqosh in 2014 when ISIS took over their convent. She has since been living in the city of Erbil, in northern Iraq.