Being stopped to follow his dream

M. Vakaas Khan, 26 from Didsbury, has been training for years to follow his dream to become an MMA-fighter. Last Thursday he said goodbye to his family and friends on the Airport and sat in the plane to take off. Read next what happens after he sat in the plane...

M. Vakaas Khan's story:

'I've been doing MMA for about 4 years now and ever since the first time I saw UFC I've always liked it. I had a chance to train under a legendary fighter in the MMA-circuit, named 'Randy Couture'. Basically, I had bought my ticket and applied for my "Eastr registration", due to the fact that the new US government law requires people from the "Visa-waiver program" to apply for this "Eastrr registration" online. The criteria of the Eastr registration was: You have to posses a valid British passport with an electronic chip and not have a criminal record. Obviously, I met all the criteria and qualified for this program. When I applied, I got a reply saying I was 'unauthorized' to visit the US and was told to apply for a standard Visa. I only intended on staying in the US for 13 days, 4 of those days were to train in Vegas in the 'Extreme Couture' gym, and then the rest of the time was to spend time with my family in New-Jersey.

As my application was rejected, I phoned the US-government office in London and they informed me that the reason my visa was rejected was because I went through a third party. The “third party” only told me on Wednesday, the day before I was flying, that my Visa was rejected and I should register directly through the US-government office in London. So, I followed their instructions and applied. On the day of the flight, I checked my status online and it still was "pending". My flight was at 11.30am. I went to the Airport and tried to check-in and see if it was approved. Before I got to the check-in desk, someone from the Airline swiped my passport and asked me a few questions which I answered. When the lady approved me and wished me a nice journey, I went to the check-in desk, the lady checked-in my luggage and everything seemed okay. So, I was assuming that my Visa has been accepted. That's when I made my way to the plane and boarded. I settled down in the plane and had a little chat with the person next to me.

As I was having a chat, two people came up to me and asked if I was Mr. Khan and I answered yes. They requested me to follow them out of the plane and that the US government were waiting there for me. They told me in front of everybody that I was not able to go back on the aeroplane because my visa was rejected for certain reasons. When they escorted me off the aeroplane I felt so embarrassed, due to the fact that people were talking about me, due to me being the only one of an ethnic origin. I felt so embarrassed and the way how they dealt with the situation was so terrible, I couldn't believe it and nobody was helpful. The US-government was really arrogant towards me and escorted me all the way out of the Airport.

I'm very depressed and saddened by this situation, as it was a long-term goal of mine to train with this legendary fighter, and I still don't known why my Ester has been rejected. I believe it was due to the fact that my name starts with Mohammad and my surname is Khan. I was the only Muslim on this particular plane. I've spoken to a few people and they've come across the same situation as me, their name started with Mohammad as well.

It also annoys me so much because I've done so much work with so many institutions to stamp out terrorism and help people to realize that my religion is all about love and peace, and has got nothing to do with terrorism whatsoever!!! I've spent a lot of money and time to try and go to America to fulfil my dream, and I've been told that I'm not entitled to a total refund.

The steps I've taking so far include contacting my local MP, and he's trying to find out why this has occurred and for what reasons, and I've also contacted the M.E.N. Newspaper.

Hopefully next year (god willing), I would really want to visit this MMA-training seminar, but I'll never know what happens next year. One thing is for sure, I won't give up finding justice for people like myself.'