Home Office stopped author from speaking at UK festival, says publisher

Visa refusals mean Palestinian Nayrouz Qarmout unlikely to get to Edinburgh book festival

The publisher of a Palestinian author denied a visa to appear at the Edinburgh book festival this year says the Home Office has effectively stopped her from speaking, despite reversing its decision.

Nayrouz Qarmout, who is also a TV journalist, was one of a dozen Middle Eastern and African writers and illustrators who had their applications for visitor visas refused, sometimes multiple times, ahead of this year’s festival, which began on Saturday.

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