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Nun gets one-month visa reprieve

Government relents on demand to leave the country
Nun gets one-month visa reprieve
Sister Jacqueline Jean McEwan with some of her patients at the Sumanahalli Society
Published: July 25, 2011 10:22 AM GMT
Updated: July 25, 2011 10:25 AM GMT

The federal home ministry has offered a one-month visa extension to Sister Jacqueline Jean McEwan, a British nun who has worked among leprosy patients in India for nearly three decades, after previously denying her a visa and preparing to force her to leave the country. The 63-year-old Montfort missionary nun, who has worked as a volunteer in the Sumanahalli (Goodwill Village) Society in Bangalore, said the government had not given any reason for their decision. “Given a chance, I would gladly come back,” she said on Sunday. The society, founded by Claretian Father George Kannanthanam in 1978, provides care for leprosy patients and other marginalized people in southern India. The extension comes after Father Kannanthanam said on the weekend that the society would seek clarification from the ministry and plead for a new visa. “If it is not renewed by Monday afternoon, the sister will take a flight out of the country in the evening. She plans to apply for a visa again from outside [the country],” he said at the time. He added that numerous overseas nuns have worked at the society, but all have had to leave the country after being refused visa renewals. The society has treated more than 5,000 leprosy-afflicted patients during and provided them “a dignified life” through education, training, job placement and housing,” Father Kannanthanam said. Related report: Nun gives new hope to leprosy patients

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