Bangkok - A Zimbabwean family of eight lived in a Bangkok
airport for three months before departing to seek asylum in the
Philippines earlier in the week, immigration police told dpa on
Wednesday.
"There's a place for them in the Philippines. They're in the hands of
UNHCR (UN refugee agency) now," said Cherngron Rimpadee, an
immigration police spokesman. The family flew to the Philippines on
Monday.
The four adults and four children first came to public attention when
a shop owner at Suvarnabhumi International Airport posted a photo on
Facebook in December of himself with a Zimbawean girl and a Christmas
present he gave her.
The post described how strong the children were despite their ordeal
and how excited they were over his Christmas present.
The family came to Thailand on a three-month tourist visa in February
2017. Thai authorities learned that they had overstayed when they
tried to travel to Spain without a visa in October, Cherngron said.
"We tried to deport them back to Zimbabwe. But they refused, saying
it was not safe for them to return," he said.
"Then, UNHCR asked us to stall the deportation process until a place
for their asylum can be secured," he added.
Unlike the Philippines, Thailand has not ratified the UN's 1951
Refugee Convention and does not recognize the status of refugees and
asylum seekers, who are treated as illegal immigrants.
In November, Zimbabwe descended into political turmoil when the
military seized power, leading to the resignation of 93-year-old
Robert Mugabe as president after nearly a four-decade rule.