MANILA, Philippines—Twelve Filipinos traveling to the United Kingdom on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight (CX275 from Hong Kong to London) have been refused entry into Germany and were held Thursday night at Frankfurt International Airport.
The Filipinos, all holders of UK visas, were en route to London when their flight was diverted to Frankfurt because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland on Wednesday. They landed in Frankfurt at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday (1:30 a.m. Friday in Manila).
Other passengers on the flight were accommodated in hotels by the airline but the Filipinos were kept in the airline lounge and had to sleep on floors and cushions because they lacked Schengen visas, according to passenger Kimberly Lim, 20.
“We had to wait for four hours with no food or water and were then told we could not enter Germany,” Lim said by phone. “We saw other Asian passengers from Taiwan and China—who also lacked visas—being allowed to enter. But the Filipino passengers were told they had to stay. We felt totally discriminated against.”
3-day visas
Lim said the German authorities were issuing temporary 3-day Schengen visas that were going to be paid for by Cathay Pacific.
She added: “[The authorities] took all the passports of our group, which consisted of Chinese, Taiwanese and Filipino passengers. The Chinese and Taiwanese passengers managed to get visas after a long while, and could leave the airport to travel within Germany.
“Then [the authorities] came out with our passports, handed these back and said they have decided that anybody with a Filipino passport wouldn’t be issued a visa.
“They didn’t say why; they just gave us our passports back...”
Another passenger, Jay Madronero, 37, said: “It was poor decision-making on the part of the German immigration officials with regard to issuance of visas in an emergency situation.”
Out of their hands
Local representatives seemed powerless to help.
In an e-mail, Klaus Muller, first secretary of the German Embassy in Manila, said: “The embassy has no influence at all [over] the decisions of the German Border Control Police.”
Cathay Pacific also said in a phone interview from Hong Kong that the situation was “out of [their] hands.”
The Filipinos are facing an indefinite period of being trapped with no bedding, luggage or proper meals in the small airport lounge.
Authorities have said the disruption in air travel could continue past the weekend, until the ash clouds from the volcanic eruption clear up. David Guerrero, Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 17, 2010
The author is chair/CCO of BBDO Guerrero.
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