伊朗难民在莫斯科机场吃住9个月终被加拿大接受
中新网温哥华3月15日电(吕振亚 尹琳)一位名叫卡玛尔法的伊朗难民今天抵达温哥华时受到了国际媒体的极大关注。她与两个子女步出温哥华国际机场时兴奋地说,“我终于又看到天空、月亮和太阳了。”
是的,这位女难民带着18岁的女儿和10岁的儿子已整整9个多月没见过“天”了,她一家三口此前被迫一直在莫斯科国际机场“暂住”,吃在机场内,洗漱也全在机场卫生间里。
“现在,我看见了自由!”卡玛尔法对前来欢迎她的近百名支持者和媒体记者说着,然后突然昏倒在地,看似因过分激动所至。
难怪卡玛尔法会如此激动。2004年,她因政治原因带着两个子女逃出了伊朗,并希望转道俄罗斯和德国到加拿大,但路经德国时被捕,并被遣送回莫斯科。在莫斯科,她们三人先被软禁在一家旅馆里几个月,后又被送回国际机场等待“发落”。
卡玛尔法没想到,一等竟然就九个多月。期间,联合国难民事务高级专员办事处在审核其难民申请时,多次要求俄罗斯政府安置卡玛尔法一家,但俄政府一直没有采取行动。一名俄罗斯移民官在接受加拿大媒体采访时表示,原因是卡玛尔法没有按照当地法律规定,在24小时内向俄罗斯提出难民申请。他们认为俄罗斯国际航空公司应该为这家人负责。
卡玛尔法的律师说:“我无法想出一个词来形容她们一家此间的惨痛经历。”本周,加拿大政府在伊朗一个难民组织的游说下,终于同意接受这家人来加,承认她们的难民资格。
但好事总是多磨,在离开机场之前,卡玛尔法还被加拿大皇家骑警扣留,因为有人指控她在所乘坐的飞机上吸烟。皇家骑警最终没有对她提起控诉,并将她释放,由她居住在温哥华、已13年未见过面的兄弟接走。
棲身莫斯科机场9个月.难民家庭抵加过新生活
星报通讯社电/在莫斯科国际机场滯留了9个月的一个伊朗难民家庭最终踏足加拿大。两子之母的卡马法(Zahra Kamalfar)周四到达温哥华后，便向加拿大政府表示感谢。
在等候加拿大是否批准难民申请期间，这一家三口在公用的洗手间沐浴，在机场的地上睡觉，有赖一家民航公司供应食物。这简直是电影《航站情缘》(The Terminal)的悲情写实版。
不过，卡马法表示，一直都抱有希望，相信最终可以来到加拿大过新生活。
这个家庭於两天前离开莫斯科，周四由多伦多乘机飞往温哥华。她表示，本身並不懂英语，但她为与18岁女子安娜(Anna)及10岁儿子戴活(Davood)所得到的协助向加拿大政府表示谢意。
卡马法曾一度因为紧张而眩晕，但数分钟后便清醒过来，带著一双子女在9个月內首次踏足户外。
希望平淡生活
这个家庭表示，在加拿大没有甚么大的计划，只是希望平淡生活，找机会报答加拿大。
现年47岁的卡马法於2005年在伊朗参加政治抗议活动，其后逃出国外，最后与这对子女滯留在莫斯科国际机场过境的大堂。
加拿大伊朗人议会的格哈华米(Davood Ghavami)表示，卡马法的丈夫仍被拘留，情况不详。
卡马法本身也曾被拘捕，但获探监的亲人协助逃走，取道莫斯科前往德国的法兰克福，但德国政府拒绝给予庇护，而这个家庭其后被送回莫斯科。
去年11月，俄罗斯试图把彼等遣返伊朗，但支持者要求联合国难民事务高级专员署介入。
这个家庭於1月申请前来加拿大定居，且於本周获悉抵埠居民的申请已经获得批准。
卡马法有亲人在加拿大。
周四，卡马法在温哥华机场被扣留问话超过一小时，原因是她在多伦多乘机前往温哥华途中曾试图吸烟，而在机场迎接的支持者及亲人则感到焦虑。
小儿子戴活对於如何度过在加拿大的第一天有了主意。这名困在机场多个月的小孩说﹕「我想到外边，也许散散步。」
Iranian refugee living at Moscow airport now free in Vancouver
Mar 15, 2007 07:31 PM
Canadian Press
VANCOUVER – An Iranian woman who’d been living with her two children at Moscow airport for nine months is now free in Vancouver.
But not before being questioned by the RCMP after a report she was smoking on the plane that brought her to Canada.
Zahra Kamalfar arrived at Vancouver International Airport after a flight from Europe, but was held up by officials over the smoking report.
Without naming her, the RCMP say they questioned a woman about a smoking allegation, but decided to release her without charges.
Kamalfar and her children had been living at Moscow airport since last summer after Russian authorities refused her entry to that country.
She was granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Canada agreed to accept her and her children.
Refugees’ airport saga ends
Mar 16, 2007 04:30 AM
Petti Fong
Western Canada Bureau Chief
VANCOUVER–The five-hour flight from Toronto to Vancouver yesterday was the last leg of a long journey for an Iranian refugee family after spending 10 months stuck in a Moscow airport terminal.
During their ordeal, Zahra Kamalfar and her two children bathed in public washrooms, slept on the floor of the terminal, ate food donated by a Russian airline and waited for word their refugee claim would be accepted by Canada.
Kamalfar, 47, said she never gave up hope she and her family would eventually arrive at another airport, a Canadian one, to begin their new life.
“I don’t know English, but first I don’t know how to thank for the Canada government,” said Kamalfar in a shaky voice. “Thank you so much for helping me and my child. Thank you for making me hang on.”
Kamalfar, who flew out of Moscow two days ago, said she has been helped by people she called angels who gave her the strength to continue pursuing freedom. She was proud to be an Iranian woman, she said, before fainting from the stress as her daughter Anna, 18, and son Davood, 12, stood by helplessly.
Within minutes, Kamalfar recovered. She reached for her children and they walked out of the confines of an airport for the first time in 10 months.
The family says it has no grand plans in Canada, and wants only to live simply and find some way to repay the country for opening its doors to them after so many months of hopelessness.
“I don’t care about anything. I can see the sky, the moon and the sun and I can breathe the air,” said Anna, as she carried a guitar case and two pieces of carry-on luggage, the only possessions the family had with them to begin their new life.
“I want to say to any person, freedom is very important and thank you Canada.”
Zahra Kamalfar had been jailed in Tehran for her involvement in political protests. Aided by her family there, she was able to escape prison and she and her children fled Iran in 2005 and made their way to Frankfurt, Germany.
Her husband was also detained in Iran but his fate is unknown, said Davood Ghavami, who is with the Iranian Canadian Congress.
The German government rejected their application for asylum and the family, having arrived in Frankfurt via Moscow, was returned to Russia, where they remained stuck in transit for 10 months.
Last November, Russia tried to enforce a deportation order and send Kamalfar and her children back to Iran, but supporters who became aware of the family’s plight appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
In January, the family applied for resettlement to Canada, where Kamalfar’s brother has been living since 1997. Word came this week that their application as landed residents was accepted. In an interview from the Netherlands, Farshad Hosseini, who helped organize an international support network for the family, said it took pressure from many groups to prevent Russia from deporting the family back to Iran.
“She was in danger. Her husband had been arrested and she was arrested and raped,” said Hosseini.
“Her family managed to help her escape from Iran and there is no question that she would not be alive if she was sent back.”
The family’s exhilaration at arriving in Vancouver turned to more waiting at the airport yesterday when officials detained Kamalfar for more than an hour after their flight arrived.
She had tried to smoke a cigarette on the flight from Toronto.
Authorities questioned her at the Vancouver airport while anxious supporters and her brother Nader Kamalfar waited for the family’s arrival through the gates.
Nader Kamalfar said he was anxious to hug his sister, whom he has not seen in 13 years.
“All this time waiting and now (I) have to wait some more,” said the Burnaby, B.C., resident, who paced the corridors and nervously stuck his hands in his pockets. “I just want to see them.”
When his sister, niece and nephew finally came down the escalator, he held onto them tightly.
“This is a happy ending,” said Kamalfar as he swung a welcome arm around his nephew, who smiled shyly at his uncle.
Davood Kamalfar had a simple plan for how he wanted to spend his first days in Canada. After months of being cooped up inside a Moscow airport, the 12-year-old boy, wearing a baseball hat and T-shirt, wanted to see the sun before it got dark.
“I want to go outside and maybe take a walk,” he said.
