JEDDAH: Six young men claim they were unfairly arrested at Sabiha Airport in Turkey, with officials there alleging they were supporters of the Daesh terror group.
The young men also accused Saudi Embassy officials of providing them no support, and that they had to fork out SR12,000 to leave the country after being deported by the Turkish government. They now want answers from Turkey and the Saudi foreign ministry for their treatment, a local publication reported Thursday.
Ahmed Al-Arifi said he had arrived in Turkey with five of his relatives on the afternoon of May 5 and had completed immigration procedures when he was approached by security officers who took away his passport and personal belongings and escorted him to a room for questioning.
“One of them questioned us and then laughed in a strange and provocative way, after which three men inspected me for half an hour and made me wait for another 90 minutes.”
They asked questions about who was accompanying him, which hotel he was staying in, and his relationship with his traveling companions. He said the other five young men were also individually questioned about their work and backgrounds.
Al-Arifi claimed that investigators then accused him of having Daesh videos on his phone, but when he denied the allegations and demanded them to prove this, they left the room without saying anything.
“Then, someone arrived and told us in English that were banned from entering Turkey,” he said, and claimed that no effort was made to explain the situation. However, they were promised that they would be told the reasons before they left the country.
He said they were overcome with fear and taken to an isolated, dark room to sign a document, but refused. Eventually, they were forced to sign another document, while requests to contact their families and the embassy in Istanbul were denied, he said. Eventually a detained Moroccan citizen gave them his phone so they could contact the Saudi Embassy.
After a three-hour wait, they were able to contact an official at the embassy again via WhatsApp, but were told the issue was being looked into and they would be contacted later.
Sultan and Khaled Al-Harthi said they were dealt with in a cold manner by officials at the embassy, with one employee even questioning where they had obtained his number.
“They did not consider our circumstances and when we asked for help to return to the Kingdom, one official told us to ‘figure it out,’” he said. They were forced to pay SR12,000 to leave the country.
“It was not until the shift change that we were given food, 10 hours later,” he said. “We arrived in Jeddah on Friday morning and filed an official complaint via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are awaiting a response from the embassy.”
The young men also accused Saudi Embassy officials of providing them no support, and that they had to fork out SR12,000 to leave the country after being deported by the Turkish government. They now want answers from Turkey and the Saudi foreign ministry for their treatment, a local publication reported Thursday.
Ahmed Al-Arifi said he had arrived in Turkey with five of his relatives on the afternoon of May 5 and had completed immigration procedures when he was approached by security officers who took away his passport and personal belongings and escorted him to a room for questioning.
“One of them questioned us and then laughed in a strange and provocative way, after which three men inspected me for half an hour and made me wait for another 90 minutes.”
They asked questions about who was accompanying him, which hotel he was staying in, and his relationship with his traveling companions. He said the other five young men were also individually questioned about their work and backgrounds.
Al-Arifi claimed that investigators then accused him of having Daesh videos on his phone, but when he denied the allegations and demanded them to prove this, they left the room without saying anything.
“Then, someone arrived and told us in English that were banned from entering Turkey,” he said, and claimed that no effort was made to explain the situation. However, they were promised that they would be told the reasons before they left the country.
He said they were overcome with fear and taken to an isolated, dark room to sign a document, but refused. Eventually, they were forced to sign another document, while requests to contact their families and the embassy in Istanbul were denied, he said. Eventually a detained Moroccan citizen gave them his phone so they could contact the Saudi Embassy.
After a three-hour wait, they were able to contact an official at the embassy again via WhatsApp, but were told the issue was being looked into and they would be contacted later.
Sultan and Khaled Al-Harthi said they were dealt with in a cold manner by officials at the embassy, with one employee even questioning where they had obtained his number.
“They did not consider our circumstances and when we asked for help to return to the Kingdom, one official told us to ‘figure it out,’” he said. They were forced to pay SR12,000 to leave the country.
“It was not until the shift change that we were given food, 10 hours later,” he said. “We arrived in Jeddah on Friday morning and filed an official complaint via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are awaiting a response from the embassy.”
