The United Kingdom has denied entry to a Kazakh artist who does not have hands because he cannot provide fingerprints, he says.

Anti-nuclear activist Karipbek Kuyukov was due to travel to Great Britain last month to attend a conference and show his paintings, he told Tengrinews.

“I was denied a visa on the grounds that my fingerprints were of unsatisfactory quality. I was asked for additional fingerprints, although I physically could not give them any fingerprints. My sister who was supposed to accompany me received a visa because they took her fingerprints. Why do they need fingerprints anyway?” Kuyukov told Tengrinews. Photos he provided the embassy clearly showed he is disabled, he added, noting that he did not have any problems when he successfully applied for an American visa last year.

The British Consulate in Almaty did not respond to requests for comment on May 6 within the time frame promised. Repeated calls to the British Embassy in Astana went unanswered.

Kuyukov, 44, was born near the Soviet Union’s largest nuclear test site, at Semipalatinsk in what is now northeastern Kazakhstan, and attributes his disability -- he was born without hands -- to the radioactive fallout from the tests.

Kuyukov has been involved in anti-nuclear campaigning for over twenty years, displaying his paintings – which he makes by holding a brush in his mouth and between his toes – around the world. Today, Kuyukov is an honorary ambassador for the Atom Project, an anti-nuclear awareness initiative founded by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev closed Semipalatinsk at Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991.

UPDATE: An embassy official called EurasiaNet.org on Monday evening to apologize for being unavailable, citing technical issues with the embassy's phone network. She said she could not yet comment on Mr. Kuyukov's visa.


http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66926


oyinbo sef wicked. How can a handless man be expected to put down his fingerprints.

mods abeg front page

What a strong spirit! So even with that situation, he had hopes of leaving his country? I love determination and a soul that cannot be put off by failure.

Aal izz well with you. FP please

Absolutely cruel.

very funny!!!!!!!!

My sister who was supposed to accompany me received a visa because they took her fingerprints. Why do they need fingerprints anyway?” Kuyukov told Tengrinews. Photos he provided the embassy clearly showed he is disabled

so who will her sister accompany?

They should have used tongue-print

Wht of hz footprints?

thats wicked just because he gat no hands doesnt mean he gat no rights..BUT WAIT! What of LEGPRINTS

Lmaooooo not funny but.....

UK will deny you for any reason they can find.

Bossforeva: Wht of hz footprints?

How about an eye scan ? This is not only absurd but derogatory to the physically challenged man. . . .His sister's identity alone is enough to cover him.he should challenge this rubbish in a court of law.

eyaah. I pity him. But they should have find other means to capture is data.

dat is the problem wit this pple, common sense no common.

some of these staff no get a mind of their own, they are like robots.

shame on them

Just yesterday, I was doing a thumb print & this crazy thought came into my mind: People without fingers can't thumbprint. Thank God you have fingers.
I feel for the man

^^^^ what's funny?

'em no get leg ni mek dem use 'em toe nah.. wetting dey do diz pple sef

Somebody didn't do his job well at the High Commission.

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Total speechless

some have fingers but can not thumb print
some can thumb print but have no fingers
we have fingers and we can thumb print
glory be to God amen!

no be small tin sha

Did human rights watch see this discrimation? Abi their satelite don fall from sky?

akorlade: Did human rights watch see this discrimation? Abi their satelite don fall from sky?

i wonda o my brother

oh that's just grimey.

kalufelix: some have fingers but can not thumb print
some can thumb print but have no fingers
we have fingers and we can thumb print
glory be to God amen!

What's this BS?!! How will someone with no fingers thumb-print?

@op, I think they should have done an eye scan.

Some civil servants can be very clueless and power-drunk.

Instead of referring the case to higher authorities they just denied him. So his sister should now accompany "air" to the UK?

And this the West preaching holier-than-thou human rights to other people. Even Mugabe's Zimbabwe that they criticise so much would not do this.


Shameful!

They ought to have waived this requirement on the basis of disability and used fotos, eye scans etc. I wonder if the consular officer whom processed his visa application sought advice from a senior colleague before rejecting the request. Maybe Britain don't like his stand against nuclear tests?

some times the state should try and consider somethings

what of toe print.abi that one no follow...so unfair

[Nigerian Army announces ‘hi-tech device’ to tackle Boko Haram

source: www.cybernewsupdate.com

wheesin: thats wicked just because he gat no hands doesnt mean he gat no rights..BUT WAIT! What of LEGPRINTS

Your fada............LOL