| |
Over 150 Palestinians Held on Plane 11/14 06:11
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- South African authorities faced heavy criticism Friday
after they held more than 150 Palestinians, including a woman who is nine
months pregnant, on a plane for around 12 hours due to complications with their
travel documents.
A pastor who was allowed to meet with the passengers while they were still
stuck on the plane said it was extremely hot and that children were screaming
and crying.
The Palestinians landed on a charter plane at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo
International Airport on Thursday morning after a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya,
South Africa's Border Management Authority said in a statement.
The Palestinian passengers did not have exit stamps from Israeli
authorities, did not indicate how long they would be staying in South Africa
and had not given local addresses, leading immigration authorities to deny them
entry, the statement said.
The 153 passengers including families and children were allowed to leave the
plane on Thursday night after South Africa's Ministry of Home Affairs
intervened and a local non-governmental organization called Gift of the Givers
offered to accommodate them. The Border Management Authority said 23 passengers
had since traveled on to other countries, leaving 130 in South Africa.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said it was the second plane
carrying Palestinians to land in South Africa in the last two weeks and that
the passengers themselves said they did not know where they were going. He said
both planes were believed to be carrying people from war-torn Gaza.
It was not immediately clear how the charter plane was organized, where
exactly it came from and why the passengers were able to leave Israel without
the proper documentation, as South African authorities claimed.
The South African pastor who was given access to the plane while it was on
the tarmac told national broadcaster SABC that many of the Palestinians now
intended to claim asylum in South Africa.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause and the
treatment of the travelers has sparked anger.
"It's dire," Nigel Branken, the pastor, said in an interview with SABC on
Thursday from the plane as he described the conditions. "When I came onto the
plane it was excruciatingly hot. There were lots of children just sweating and
screaming and crying."
"I do not believe this is what South Africa is about. South Africa should be
letting these people into the airport at the very least and letting them apply
for asylum. This is their basic fundamental right guaranteed in our
constitution."
|
|
