Posted on Thu, Dec. 14, 2006
THE MIDDLE EAST
Palestinians seek visas to Cuba
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - (AP) -- Travel agents in the Gaza Strip are
reporting a brisk demand for visas to Cuba, one of the few places that
welcomes Palestinians, often as means of getting to a third country.
Driven by fear of civil war and increasingly bleak economic prospects,
Palestinians are fleeing their violence-wracked lands in growing
numbers. Many are skilled and educated, and are leaving behind an
increasingly impoverished and fundamentalist society.
Many countries make it difficult for the stateless Palestinians to
obtain even tourist visas, because they often overstay them.
Two popular destinations for Gazans are Canada, which still offers legal
immigration, and Cuba, which imposes few restrictions on Palestinian
travelers.
Those with tourist visas to Cuba often don't plan to go there. Instead,
they get off in transit at a European airport, rip up their Palestinian
travel document and seek asylum.
Travel agencies in Gaza arrange for fictitious invitations, hotel
bookings and Cuban visas for their clients, a Palestinian security
official said. The cost of the service has gone up from $200 to $1,500
because of the high demand and increasing risk, the official added.
Palestinian, Egyptian and European officials have begun to tighten
restrictions in an attempt to stem the flow.
Travel agent Mohammed Mouin said 65 of his clients with Cuban visas were
sent back from Egypt, but that many more are trying.
''Traveling to Cuba has become a fad,'' he said.
About 10,000 Palestinians emigrated between June and October and another
45,000 have made preparations to leave, said Ahmed Suboh, a Palestinian
Foreign Ministry official.
Emigration from Gaza, in particular, has picked up. The World Bank
estimates 70 percent of Gaza's 1.4 million people live in poverty.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/16234559.htm
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