A senior Jewish Agency official has expressed dismay over the plight of Jewish converts from Uganda who are being denied visas to live or study in Israel.

David Breakstone, deputy chairman of the agency’s executive, told Haaretz that he was “very concerned” at the situation and was seeking reform of the existing regulations amended to “get people out of this twilight zone”.  

Members of the 1,500-strong Ugandan Abayudaya community were officially recognised as Jews in 2009. They are eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.

But applicants who converted before that date are reportedly having their requests for visas blocked.

Rabbi Andy Sacks, director of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement in Israel, said that a combination of racial prejudice, discrimination against non-Orthodox converts and bureaucratic incompetence had left the Ugandans “in limbo”.

An Interior Ministry spokesman told Haaretz the issue was: “pending a government decision”.

He added that the ministry was “unaware of any difficulties experienced by members of the Abayudaya community”