Uganda-born prize-winning author 'numb' after being stopped from boarding flight to UK

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi has British citizenship but was barred from leaving Brussels

Author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi was barred from boarding a Ryanair flight to the UK, even though she has British citizenship. Reuters

A prize-winning author has said she was left feeling “numb” after being stopped from flying home to the UK from Brussels.

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, 53, who was born in Uganda and has British citizenship, said she was blocked from checking in by a Ryanair employee in Brussels who took issue with her travel documents.

The author, who is also a university lecturer, has lived in the UK for 21 years and was returning from a literary festival when the incident happened.

Ms Makumbi was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2012 and was travelling on her Ugandan passport with her biometric residence permit.

She said her indefinite leave to remain card had an expiry date, which was April this year, but due to her having indefinite leave to remain the date is not relevant.

“I tried to explain to this guy, but he just did not even look at me or give me a moment to explain. He just said we’re not going anywhere," she told The Guardian newspaper.

“I explained to them that I’m a British citizen but they were not having it."

The author, who won the Windham-Campbell literature prize in 2018 and in 2014 the Commonwealth short story prize, contacted the UK embassy in Belgium, who helped her to return home on the Eurostar instead.

Her colleague Gary Younge, a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester, described the incident as "shocking".

"Shocked to hear that award-winning writer and British citizen Jennifer Makumbi has been barred from boarding a @Ryanair flight to Manchester from Brussels without any explanation," he tweeted.

"Jennifer, who’s been in England for over 20 years and married to a Brit for over a decade, is a lecturer at Lancaster University.

"It shouldn’t happen to anyone, regardless of credentials. The fact it has happened to her shows just how fragile our rights are. It’s like Windrush in reverse."

He later tweeted: "Delighted to report that thanks to consular intervention Jennifer Makumbi is on her way home on Eurostar. Still livid that it should have happened at all."

Her publisher Oneworld described her treatment as "shocking".

“You’d think @Ryanair could simply Google a prize-winning author who has lived in the UK for over a decade, completed her MA and PhD in the UK and is now a university lecturer here,” the publisher tweeted.

Ryanair said she was not denied boarding as she never arrived at her gate and her boarding pass was not scanned at the checkpoints.