Syrian couple waiting for decision on asylum in Jamaica

This is an update of the fishy story we posted on August 13th.

UNHCR coming to the rescue!

This Syrian couple with phony travel documents made it around the world—from Syria, to Lebanon, to Russia, to Cuba, to The Cayman Islands and were finally detained on their way to the US in Jamaica where they quickly asked for asylum.  Until Jamaica, not one country noticed they had the same birth date on both of their passports?  My guess is that this was some sort of a trial run.

Here is the latest news from Kingston’s The Gleaner:

The future of a Syrian couple seeking asylum in Jamaica since August is now under consideration by the Refugee Eligibility Committee and a decision is expected by the end of September, according to the Ministry of National Security.

The couple, identified as Fadi Al Lababidi and Hayat Hejazi, arrived in Jamaica from The Cayman Islands, en route to the United States in early August, but were denied landing permission by immigration authorities after suspicions were raised about travel documents.

[….]

The couple’s itinerary indicated that they “travelled from Syria to Beirut (Lebanon), Moscow (Russia), Havana (Cuba), and Grand Cayman to Kingston. They stated that they did not seek asylum in Lebanon or Russia because they felt these countries were friendly with the Syrian government”.

International asylum law says that legitimate ‘asylum seekers’ must ask for asylum in the first safe country in which they land; it’s not supposed to be a shopping expedition for the country of one’s choice.  So why didn’t they ask in Cuba or The Cayman’s?  And, where did these poor ‘refugees’ get the money necessary for a globe-trotting adventure?

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