Foreign Ministry arranges UN’s interview of the stranded Zimbabwean family

BANGKOK, Dec 29 (TNA) – The Foreign Ministry and the Immigration Bureau coordinated the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR)’s interview of the Zimbabwean family that has been stranded at Suvarnabhumi airport for about three months, to proceed with their application for asylum in a third country. Ms Busadee Santipitaks, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said the UNHCR asked Thai authorities to take care of the Zimbabwean family pending the asylum process. At present the UNHCR considers the family as "persons of concern" who seek asylum in a third country and it is trying to find the country. The family consists of four adults and four young children. Kittipong Kittikachorn, deputy director of Suvarnabhumi airport, said they arrived in Thailand in May with tourist visas. On Oct 23, they bought air tickets to Barcelona but Ukraine International Airlines rejected their flight because they did not have visas to Spain. Immigration police accepted them, fined them for overstaying their visas in Thailand for five months and asked the airline to send them back to Zimbabwe. The family refused to return to the homeland for fear of unrest there. On Nov 7 they bought tickets to another country via Ukraine and Spain but they were stopped in Ukraine as they did not have a visa to Spain. They were brought back to Suvarnabhumi airport on Nov 13 and then sought asylum with the UNHCR. (TNA)