Published : 03-01-2021
Elderly Palestinian woman Samia Tahan, who has been stranded at Istanbul International Airport for 22 days running, has appealed to the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the international humanitarian institutions to lend her a hand.
In appeals sent to AGPS, the refugee said she traveled from Beirut to Belarus using her Palestinian-Syrian travel document. However, she was denied access into Belarus and deported to Istanbul Airport.
Samia is now trapped at the airport, sleeping for over 20 days in the waiting hall. She suffers from diabetes and hypertension. Airport authorities transferred her to the hospital, where she had been held for five days due to her deteriorating health condition.
Unofficial statistics indicate that 10,000 Palestinians from Syria have sought shelter in Turkey, where they have been facing dire socio-economic conditions and denied access to the local labor market.
Turkish embassies continue to prevent Palestinian refugees from Syria from obtaining visas. As a result, hundreds of Palestinians have embarked on life-threatening journeys via illegal immigration roads to reach Turkey, fleeing war-tattered Syria, among other war-stricken zones.
Hundreds of PRS have been unable to provide for their children and families in Turkey. A large number of companies, factories, and shops shut their doors for fear of further COVID-19 contaminations. Several Palestinian families have lost their sole sources of income as a result.
Elderly Palestinian woman Samia Tahan, who has been stranded at Istanbul International Airport for 22 days running, has appealed to the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the international humanitarian institutions to lend her a hand.
In appeals sent to AGPS, the refugee said she traveled from Beirut to Belarus using her Palestinian-Syrian travel document. However, she was denied access into Belarus and deported to Istanbul Airport.
Samia is now trapped at the airport, sleeping for over 20 days in the waiting hall. She suffers from diabetes and hypertension. Airport authorities transferred her to the hospital, where she had been held for five days due to her deteriorating health condition.
Unofficial statistics indicate that 10,000 Palestinians from Syria have sought shelter in Turkey, where they have been facing dire socio-economic conditions and denied access to the local labor market.
Turkish embassies continue to prevent Palestinian refugees from Syria from obtaining visas. As a result, hundreds of Palestinians have embarked on life-threatening journeys via illegal immigration roads to reach Turkey, fleeing war-tattered Syria, among other war-stricken zones.
Hundreds of PRS have been unable to provide for their children and families in Turkey. A large number of companies, factories, and shops shut their doors for fear of further COVID-19 contaminations. Several Palestinian families have lost their sole sources of income as a result.
