‘A thin existence’: A man stranded in Turkey after being denied entry to Britain

ANKARA, March 12 (Reuters) – Stuck in Turkey since being banned from boarding a flight to Britain more than two months ago, Siyabonga Twala spent his 34th birthday away from his son and family in an unfamiliar city on Saturday.

Twala has South African citizenship, has lived in the UK since 2004 and is the father of a British son. But on December 29, he and his parents, his son and two brothers were flying back to Britain after a trip to South Africa when they prevented him from boarding the plane in Istanbul.

“They just pushed me aside and said they informed us that we can’t board them today. That was all they could tell me at the time,” he told Reuters in his hotel room in Ankara, where he has stayed since. early January.

Twala said she had not seen the deportation order, but it was related to a conviction for possession of cannabis with intent to supply, for which she served four and a half months in prison in 2018, half of the nine-month sentence she served. . she received.

Honor Twala, Siyabonga’s brother, said her brother’s character was being judged based on a mistake. “It is inhumane to think that just because a person makes a single mistake that gives you the right to take his life away,” he said, speaking to Reuters from Chester.

The UK Home Office has not responded to a Reuters request for comment on Saturday.

The British government’s immigration policy has come under global scrutiny in recent days after drawing criticism for new law that would prevent the entry of asylum seekers who arrive in the country in small boats through the English Channel. Lawyers and charities said the plans would violate the United Nations convention on refugees.

‘BAD DREAM’

Twala said her son, Mason, was in shock when he heard his father couldn’t board the plane. “At that moment I felt like my whole world had ended. I felt like I had just committed another crime,” Twala said.

He said that his son had still been asking about him. “A lot of times I try to protect him from what’s going on. I fight it because I want to be in his life.”

Twala, who has a UK residence permit, had unsuccessfully appealed a document he was given saying he could be deported, but said authorities had told him he would not be deported.

After receiving a family court order for part-time custody of her son, Twala said she believed she could travel outside the country.

Twala said he is trying to appeal the deportation decision through the Interior Ministry, citing a lack of funds to pay for a hotel and personal safety concerns due to the major earthquakes that hit Turkey last month.

He said he tried to go to the British embassy in Ankara but was turned away and the Interior Ministry told his representative that he had left the country voluntarily.

Twala said Chester is her home and her entire family is there, adding that she has “nowhere to go” if she is not allowed to return.

“I just feel like I’m in a bad, bad dream,” Twala said, adding that he has had “dark” thoughts during his time stranded in Turkey. “I’m living a very thin existence right now. I’m alone.”

Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen

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