A TOP clergyman has branded immigration officials as “jobsworths” after they stopped a Mother’s Union speaker coming from the Sudan to attend a church meeting in the diocese.

The Rev Elizabeth Aya’s visa application was refused ten days before she was due to arrive in the UK to speak to more than 60 people at a church event celebrating the diocese’s 30-year link with the Sudan.

The decision has rattled many in the newly-formed Diocese of West Yorkshire and The Dales, including the Archdeacon of Bradford, the Venerable Dr David Lee, who is chairman of the Sudan Link Committee.

The Rev Aya, who is the Mothers’ Union president in Sudan and Southern Sudan and has visited Bradford before, was due to be the keynote speaker at the meeting to renew friendship and links with the diocese at St Stephen’s Church in Steeton.

Dr Lee said: “She is an international speaker, a fabulous person, a bit Mother Theresa-ish.

“She was terribly disappointed to be barred but still sent us her love and prayers.”

The diocese said UK immigration officials rejected the Rev Aya’s application on three grounds – firstly that she had not proved she was employed and “sufficiently maintained” in Sudan and secondly she was widowed and had not given details of any family or any other ties, such as a bank account or property at home that would persuade her to leave the UK at the end of her trip. The third reason was, despite her sending a letter from the diocese about her visit, it did not prove they had the resources to host her stay and to pay for a ticket back to Sudan if it was needed.

The Ven Dr Lee, who said it had been too late to lodge an appeal at the time, added: “The jobsworths who have have processed this application have done it in total ignorance – it’s a total scandal. They could not find the diocese because it’s new and have just sat there and gone down the tick boxes and knocked it on the head without looking into it more.

“The excuse of a lack of bank account is going to rule out a lot of people from third world countries who have a lot to give and share – they will be automatically excluded, which I am not happy about.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Each application is considered on its individual merits and according to the evidence provided. It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate they meet the requirements of the immigration rules by submitting all the necessary evidence.”

The diocese is planning to submit an official complaint against the Border Agency and is contacting MP Philip Davies.

Mr Davies said he would happily take up the issue, but added:

“These are difficult times.

“We want legitimate people to come in to this country but most of my constituents complain the border agency isn’t robust enough. It’s about striking the right balance.”