PHUKET: One of six young Syrian would-be refugees held captive at Phuket International Airport for about 80 days last year has begun a new life in Canada, it has been revealed.
Phuketwan carried regular updates on the Syria Six, speaking by mobile telephone with the group. Eventually the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, managed to free the six and find destinations for them in ''third countries.''
The six said they were all non-political uni students or skilled workers who just wanted to escape repressive conditions in their homeland. Sweden was their target.
Unfortunately officials in China discovered the six were travelling to Europe on fake passports, and sent them back to their airport of embarkation, Phuket.
The six were held in the aptly-named Hospitality section at the airport, where they were sometimes too cold because of the air-con and complained that their captors, unused to having long-term guests, sometimes forgot to feed them.
Now the Vancouver Sun has interviewed one of the young men, Majd Agha, 22, who is among the first Syrian refugees to arrive in the Canadian city.
Canada, bless its heart, has agreed to resettle 11,300 refugees from Syria by the end of 2017.
The six moved from Phuket airport about April last year to a UNHCR transit area in the Philippines.
When Agha learned his new country would be Canada, the Vancouver Sun reports, he was depressed for a week.
He had friends in Europe and didn't know anyone in Canada. But those feelings quickly evaporated when he got his first glimpse of ''absolutely gorgeous'' Vancouver.
He is now studying bioinformatics, a combination of biology and computer science, with hopes of work in a lab doing DNA analysis.
At evenings or on weekends, he's either taking English classes or working as a sales person at Tommy Hilfiger.
He thinks constantly of his family in Syria and is reminded often of the sacrifices people made to help him break free. It's hoped the other five are also starting over somewhere safe.
Syrian refugee starts new life in Vancouver
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Syrian+refugee+starts+life+Vancouver/10988913/story.html
Phuketwan carried regular updates on the Syria Six, speaking by mobile telephone with the group. Eventually the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, managed to free the six and find destinations for them in ''third countries.''
The six said they were all non-political uni students or skilled workers who just wanted to escape repressive conditions in their homeland. Sweden was their target.
Unfortunately officials in China discovered the six were travelling to Europe on fake passports, and sent them back to their airport of embarkation, Phuket.
The six were held in the aptly-named Hospitality section at the airport, where they were sometimes too cold because of the air-con and complained that their captors, unused to having long-term guests, sometimes forgot to feed them.
Now the Vancouver Sun has interviewed one of the young men, Majd Agha, 22, who is among the first Syrian refugees to arrive in the Canadian city.
Canada, bless its heart, has agreed to resettle 11,300 refugees from Syria by the end of 2017.
The six moved from Phuket airport about April last year to a UNHCR transit area in the Philippines.
When Agha learned his new country would be Canada, the Vancouver Sun reports, he was depressed for a week.
He had friends in Europe and didn't know anyone in Canada. But those feelings quickly evaporated when he got his first glimpse of ''absolutely gorgeous'' Vancouver.
He is now studying bioinformatics, a combination of biology and computer science, with hopes of work in a lab doing DNA analysis.
At evenings or on weekends, he's either taking English classes or working as a sales person at Tommy Hilfiger.
He thinks constantly of his family in Syria and is reminded often of the sacrifices people made to help him break free. It's hoped the other five are also starting over somewhere safe.
Syrian refugee starts new life in Vancouver
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Syrian+refugee+starts+life+Vancouver/10988913/story.html
Regardless of the political or non-political status of passengers who are detained at the airport, there should be a strict set of procedures that are followed by the authorities, such as:
- Contact the embassy without delay
- Arrange for a medical check-up
- Provide food, drink and suitable sleeping arrangements at an approved detention centre.
Locking these people for 80 days in a cold room at the airport because there are no detention facilities and no procedure to follow is simply not acceptable.
If the immigration paid me, I'd put them up at one of my airport hotels :)
Posted by Simon Luttrell on April 21, 2015 13:27
Editor Comment:
We certainly hadn't heard of a case like it before, and the Syrian embassy may not be the best source for help. But it was better than detention at Immigration. The question is always: who has the budget to feed these people? Fortunately, they weren't expected to pay the prices charged in the departure lounge . . . the remaining issue is, how come the fake passports got them onto Phuket?