The media director of a Vanuatu newspaper whose visa renewal was refused this month has been barred from flying home to Vanuatu from Brisbane with his partner.

Dan McGarry, who has lived in Vanuatu for 16 years, applied to have his work permit renewed earlier this year but it was rejected. McGarry believes his visa was refused due to articles he had published about China’s influence in Vanuatu.

In July the Daily Post broke the story of Vanuatu deporting six Chinese nationals – four of whom had obtained Vanuatu citizenship – without due process or access to legal counsel.

McGarry said he was “quite confident” it was that series of reports which had upset the government.

McGarry, who is Canadian, left the country to attend a forum in Brisbane on media freedom in Melanesia, at which leading journalists and the editors from the region spoke about attacks on journalistic freedom in the region and discussed his case in detail.

When McGarry attempted to return to Vanuatu, flying out of Brisbane airport and travelling on a visitor’s visa, he was told the Vanuatu immigration service had issued an order barring the airline from flying him.

“The staff at Virgin Australia assured me everything was in order, and that the immigration note was the only reason they couldn’t allow me to join my partner on the plane,” he said.

“This gives the lie to the government’s insistence that cancelling my work permit was purely an administrative issue. I know of no legal reason why they should issue a blanket travel ban like this.

“They’re doing what every guilty-minded government does when faced with inconvenient facts: they’d rather shut me up – and shut me out – than engage honestly with the public about the stories we report.”

McGarry’s partner, who is from Vanuatu, returned home alone and was highly distressed by the separation.

“Even thinking about it brings me to tears,” McGarry said. “I had to Skype my partner and our two kids after she got back alone, and the moment we saw each other, we all just started bawling. They keep asking when I’m coming home and I don’t know what to tell them.

“It’s just plain cruel to make innocent children suffer merely because we printed an uncomfortable truth,” he said. “I don’t understand how anyone could act like that.”

McGarry is appealing against the rejection of his visa renewal.

The Guardian attempted to contact Vanuatu’s immigration department, minister for internal affairs and foreign minister for comment.