The UK representative in the 35th annual Mrs. World competition, a 29-year-old beauty queen, equality campaigner and NHS trainee had reportedly been denied entry in the US and her visa request was rejected allegedly due to her Syrian background.
Syrian-born, but British citizen now, Mrs. Leen Clive, who was prevented to enter the US ahead of the competition, accused on Friday the US government of discriminating against her because she’s born in Syria.
Clive, crowned Mrs. UK World in August 2020, was due to represent the United Kingdom at the seven-day event in Las Vegas, but the US Embassy in London has denied her entry under the Visa Waiver Program.
She pointed that she applied for a US visa with a British passport to represent Britain as a British citizen, so never could’ve imagined she’d be banned from the US. To add insult to the injury, her husband Nigel and their baby girl Arabella had their visas granted.
Born in Damascus, the UK beauty queen moved to the UK in 2013 where she campaigned for female quality and refugee rights and is currently training to become an NHS doctor.
Clive is also an interpreter for UNHCR, an ambassador for several charities and, a model, and a presenter on Albanian TV.
She is now in the process of appealing to the US Embassy to overturn its decision and grant her visa before January 15, when the competition starts.
According to the info published on the US government website, immigration rules say that an American consular officer must interview all citizens of countries – Syria is one of them – listed as having “repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism.”
US officials refused to comment on the case, stressing that visa records, under US law, are confidential.
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