UK denies entry to Swedish academic due to speak at Palestine event

London, United Kingdom – A pro-Palestine academic who was planning to travel to the United Kingdom has been denied entry since the administration notes his "presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good".

Key points

• The UK Home Office cancelled Swedish national Andreas Malm's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on Wednesday, an email seen by Al Jazeera demonstrates.
• Since Palestine Action was banned, more than 3, 850 individuals have been arrested for publicly backing the group in largely peaceful protests.
• Tribune editor Oliver Eagleton remarked, Andy Burnham's administration continues the authoritarian overreach we saw under Starmer.
• Most lately, Irish novelist Sally Rooney's books were withdrawn from sale in the UK this month due to her public backing for Palestine Action.
• The decision came a week before Malm was due to appear on a panel organised by the British socialist magazine Tribune in London.

For context, the UK Home Office cancelled Swedish national Andreas Malm's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on Wednesday, an email seen by Al Jazeera demonstrates.

Notably, the decision came a week before Malm was due to appear on a panel organised by the British socialist magazine Tribune in London. Huda Ammori, cofounder of Palestine Action – which the UK has proscribed as a "terrorist" group – is additionally due to appear on the panel. It will be chaired by Hala Hanina of Palestine Deep Dive.

Malm informed Al Jazeera that he believes his ETA was cancelled as he was due to appear on the panel. He has contacted the Home Office for an explanation but is yet to receive a response.

"I have been going regularly to the UK for decades. My position on Palestine has always been public, " Malm remarked, adding that his latest visit to the country was in May.

"I haven't remarked anything in public concerning Palestine during these intervening months or written anything regarding it. The only thing that could have caused this is that I was due to be on a panel on Wednesday evening, where I would talk to Huda Ammori of Palestine Action, " he remarked.

Malm informed Al Jazeera that he employed an ETA to visit the UK in May. It allowed him to travel to the country again afterwards in the year without seeking reauthorisation. He remarked he had received no indication from the Home Office that his ETA was at risk of being cancelled before receiving an email on Wednesday confirming that it had been revoked.

After which the office will "consider your circumstances in more detail" before making a decision, in its email, the Home Office informed Malm that if he wishes to visit the UK, he needs to apply for a visa. Nevertheless, the administration website states that the processing time for a standard visitor visa is three weeks, meaning Malm would not receive it in time for next week's panel even if his application were approved.

Travellers from countries whose nationals do not require a visa to visit the UK generally need an ETA. These include countries in Europe, the United States and Canada, among others.

Al Jazeera contacted the Home Office to ask for clarification on the cancellation of Malm's ETA and whether it was connected to the event he planned to attend next week. They had not replied at the time of publication.

Notably, the cancellation of Malm's ETA comes against the backdrop of a wider crackdown on pro-Palestine activists by the UK administration, something that began under then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Tribune editor Oliver Eagleton remarked, "Andy Burnham's administration continues the authoritarian overreach we saw under Starmer. In this new dystopian Britain, it is now commonplace for authors and academics to be treated as terrorists since they backing Palestinians facing genocide and the rights of individuals protesting that genocide."

Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, was prime minister when the administration proscribed Palestine Action last year.

Meanwhile, the move classified the campaign group as a "terrorist" organisation under UK law, placing it on the same legal list as groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The proscription has been condemned by rights groups, including Amnesty International.

Most lately, Irish novelist Sally Rooney's books were withdrawn from sale in the UK this month due to her public backing for Palestine Action. Rooney described Malm as a "brilliant and influential" intellectual.

"For the UK government to deny him entry to Britain is not only an outrageous attack on a respected climate expert, but a sad and frightening act of cultural self-harm, " she remarked. 'A drift towards authoritarianism'.

"This is a drift towards authoritarianism that didn't begin with me and it's not going to end with me either, " Malm informed Al Jazeera. "If I'm now being deemed a threat to the public good since I'm supposed to have a conversation with someone from Palestine Action, this is guilt by association. Where does it stop?"

Gareth Dale, reader in political economy at Brunel University of London, informed Al Jazeera that the Home Office's decision suggests the UK administration intends to continue suppressing free speech under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

"Andreas Malm is one of the world's foremost campaigners on the two defining problems of our times – climate breakdown and the genocide in Palestine. Barring him from entry to the UK represents a monstrous attempt by the Burnham administration to suppress free speech, " Dale stated.

"Typical of bureaucratic tyranny, no reason was given for the ban; it is cynical and Kafkaesque. As Malm has committed no crime, we are left guessing as to the motives. Burnham cultivated the impression that his administration would be turning a new leaf, but instead it is replicating Starmer-era authoritarianism."

Taken together, the developments around UK denies entry to Swedish academic due to speak at Palestine event point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.