Activist Vanessa Nakate slams European countries over visa denials

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate has voiced her frustration over stringent visa processes by certain European countries.

This was after two of her fellow young climate activists were denied visas to attend a climate event in Europe. 

Despite submitting all required documentation, she said, their applications were rejected, leaving her disturbed by what she perceives as systemic barriers hindering African participation in global climate discussions.

"When they shared this information with me, I was really disturbed because they had all the documents that were requested for, yet they were still denied," she said.

She noted how  many young climate organisations operate on limited budgets, and how each rejected application results in lost funds for individuals and their organisations.

Determined to understand why her friends had been denied, she reached out to the embassy of the European country in question. However, her initial attempts to get a response were ignored for several days.

After numerous emails, she finally received a reply—not addressed to her directly, but a forwarded response from the embassy to the inviting organisation.

What shocked her the most was that one of the activists had been denied a visa because of a previous rejection—a vicious cycle she believes is designed to set people up for failure.

"It was talking about how the participant does not meet the visa requirements because of previous refusals, and it just made me think about how the system is designed for people to fail," Nakate lamented.

"Why don’t you put this on your official channels? Why don’t you tell people that if you’ve been denied a visa before, you don’t have to apply again because we are not going to give it to you?" she asked.

While herself has never been denied a visa, something she recognises as a privilege, she maintained that it does not excuse the unfair system that continues to block other activists from being part of crucial climate discussions.

“It’s just hard to think that someone out there is applying for a visa to attend a climate event, and they could be rejected simply because they were denied” she said.

The rate of European visa rejections for African applicants has remains high. 

In 2022, the rejection rate for African applicants reached 30%, nearly twice the global average of 17.5%. 

Notably, seven out of the top ten countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates were African nations, including Algeria, Nigeria, and Ghana. 

Born on 15 November 1996, Nakate is a prominent Ugandan climate justice activist. She began her activism in 2019, inspired by Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement, and quickly became a leading voice in Africa's climate movement. 

Nakate founded the Rise Up Movement to amplify African voices in the climate crisis and initiated the Green Schools Project, aiming to install solar panels and eco-friendly stoves in Ugandan schools. 

In 2022, she was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, further cementing her role in advocating for climate justice and children's rights.