Source: BBC

A Muslim teacher denied entry to the United States while on a school trip said he has still not been told why.

Juhel Miah, 25, told BBC Wales: “All I want is a reason, I want to know why they kicked me off the flight.”

Mr Miah had flown to Reykjavik, Iceland, with the party from Llangatwg Community School in Aberdulais, Neath, before boarding an onward flight to New York on 16 February.

But before the plane took off he was escorted off by security staff.

First Minister Carwyn Jones has written to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for “urgent clarification” in the case, and Neath Port Talbot council has written to the US Embassy to “express its dismay” at the treatment of Mr Miah.

In the letter, Mr Jones says he understands Mr Miah was “escorted from the aircraft by US Homeland Security personnel”.

The US Embassy in London has been asked to comment.

Mr Miah, whose first name is Mohammed but is known as Juhel, was in charge of eight pupils at the time and said there were a total of 39 pupils and five members of staff on the trip.

The teacher, from Swansea, who says he has a visa which is valid until 2019 and does not have a criminal record, said: “Everyone looked at me like I’d done something wrong.

“It made me feel really small, even though it shouldn’t have. I repeatedly asked on what ground they were kicking me off the flight, no-one could give me an answer.”

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