Several Kurds looking for asylum in Switzerland face deportation

Authorities in Switzerland have detained 28 persons, including 21 Kurds. Thirteen of them could soon be deported to South Africa.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Authorities in Switzerland have detained 28 persons, including 21 Kurds. Thirteen of them could soon be deported to South Africa.

Mustafa Mamay, a Kurdish journalist, also faces deportation to South Africa.

“Because I arrived in Switzerland with a forged passport, they gave me 30 days of imprisonment. The lawyer says this is the first time such a decision is taken,” Mamay told Kurdistan 24.

“They want to deport me to South Africa now.”

According to the Turkish news website Ahval, Mamay received six years and three months imprisonment after he participated in a press statement of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) while he was a university student in the southern city of Adana.

When the Supreme Court approved the verdict, he fled to exile in northern Syria. He lived there for about three years where he covered news from the region.

Mamay’s lawyer told Kurdistan 24 there are 13 Kurds, including six children, who face deportation to South Africa on the basis that Switzerland considers South Africa a safe country.

“In total, there are 28 people in Zürich Airport. But 13 of them could be deported to South Africa,” Ahmet Tamer, the lawyer of Mamay, said.

According to the lawyer, 21 are Kurdish, and seven others are from a different nationality.

“There are many reports that South Africa is not safe for refugees. There is also a risk that they will deport them to Turkey [afterward].”

They have been in detention in Zürich Airport since Sept. 9. Mamay’s lawyer told Kurdistan 24 they would try to object the deportation in court.

Two Kurdish refugee families stranded in the airport for almost 50 days have also appealed for help.

Two 13-year-olds, Pelin Korkmaz and Dicle Kiyat, say they want to stay in Switzerland because they don’t feel safe in South Africa where authorities are trying to send them back, Kurdish Affairs Analyst Mutlu Civiroglu wrote on Twitter.

“We come from Kurdistan for asylum. We didn’t have anything in Kurdistan when we came to Switzerland, and they didn’t let us go to Switzerland, for months they kept us in the airport,” Kiyat said. “We are still alone; they didn’t let us see anybody.”

“They want to send us to South Africa. We have no one in South Africa. When they send us to South Africa, they will take my family, and they might go to prison,” she said.

“Please help us.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany