Published : 25-02-2017
Palestinian refugee Muhannad AlKhaja, formerly sheltered in Yarmouk Camp, launched a cry for help from the Bangkok airport, in the southeastern Asian country of Thailand, where he has been stranded.
In a letter emailed to AGPS, AlKhaja said he fled Yarmouk Camp, in southern Damascus, a couple of years ago, due to the deadly offensives targeting the shelter.
AlKhaja had first sought shelter in Lebanon before he headed to Thailand, where he had been granted a six-month stay. However, he was later detained by the Thai authorities for overstaying his visa and transferred to the “deportation prison”, where he had been locked up for nearly one year and a half, before he was deported to Lebanon.
The Lebanese authorities threatened to turn him in to the Syrian authorities. AlKhaja expressed fear that he might be arrested and tortured by the Syrian government forces who blacklisted him as “a draft dodger” after he rebuffed military conscription.
AlKhaja was once again deported to Lebanon from Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, where he got off in the hunt for a safe shelter.
After the Lebanese authorities notified him of their intents to turn him in to the Syrian government, AlKhaja booked a flight to Thailand, where he was detained right as he stepped in the airport.
AGPS news correspondent quoted AlKhaja as appealing to the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestinian embassy in Thailand, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to take urgent action so as to release him and revamp his legal status before it is too late.
Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled their refugee camps in war-torn Syria, risking their lives onboard “the death boats” to Europe as they rummaged around for safe sanctuaries to take provisional cover in.
Palestinian refugee Muhannad AlKhaja, formerly sheltered in Yarmouk Camp, launched a cry for help from the Bangkok airport, in the southeastern Asian country of Thailand, where he has been stranded.
In a letter emailed to AGPS, AlKhaja said he fled Yarmouk Camp, in southern Damascus, a couple of years ago, due to the deadly offensives targeting the shelter.
AlKhaja had first sought shelter in Lebanon before he headed to Thailand, where he had been granted a six-month stay. However, he was later detained by the Thai authorities for overstaying his visa and transferred to the “deportation prison”, where he had been locked up for nearly one year and a half, before he was deported to Lebanon.
The Lebanese authorities threatened to turn him in to the Syrian authorities. AlKhaja expressed fear that he might be arrested and tortured by the Syrian government forces who blacklisted him as “a draft dodger” after he rebuffed military conscription.
AlKhaja was once again deported to Lebanon from Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, where he got off in the hunt for a safe shelter.
After the Lebanese authorities notified him of their intents to turn him in to the Syrian government, AlKhaja booked a flight to Thailand, where he was detained right as he stepped in the airport.
AGPS news correspondent quoted AlKhaja as appealing to the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestinian embassy in Thailand, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to take urgent action so as to release him and revamp his legal status before it is too late.
Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled their refugee camps in war-torn Syria, risking their lives onboard “the death boats” to Europe as they rummaged around for safe sanctuaries to take provisional cover in.
