Stranded in Malaysia, Yemeni green card lottery winners face grim future after Trump's temporary travel ban

Record ID: 905290

  • Title: Stranded in Malaysia, Yemeni green card lottery winners face grim future after Trump's temporary travel ban
  • Date: 4th August 2017
  • Summary: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (RECENT - JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SKYVILLAS APARTMENT WHERE U.S. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY WINNER, RAFEK AHMED MOHAMMED AL-SANANI, IS STAYING APARTMENT WINDOWS CAR ENTERING APARTMENT / SIGNBOARD READING (English): "SERDANG SKYVILLAS" CAR ENTERING APARTMENT / PEOPLE WALKING AHMED MOHAMMED AL-SANAN (WEARING RED) GREETING HIS FRIENDS SANANI AND HIS FRIEND LOOKING AT MOBILE PHONE SANANI LOOKING HIS PHONE / FRIENDS HOLDING DOCUMENT, NOTIFICATION ASKING THEM TO TRAVEL TO KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, FOR INTERVIEW SANANI TALKING WITH HIS FRIENDS SANANI HOLDING DOCUMENTS SANANI AND FRIENDS LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS LETTER READING (English): "DEAR OMAR HEZAM NAGI MUTHANA / YOU HAVE BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED FOR FURTHER PROCESSING..." LETTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) U.S. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY WINNER, RAFEK AHMED MOHAMMED AL-SANANI, SAYING: "For a long time, the U.S. was a dream for me to enhance my financial and living situation. Secondly, (it was a dream for) my education, which is the main aim I was hoping for," VARIOUS OF SANANI TALKING TO FRIEND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) U.S. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY WINNER, RAFEK AHMED MOHAMMED AL-SANANI, SAYING: "I feel that a nightmare has fallen on my chest and I cannot believe the situation that I am living in considering the dreams and expectations I was hoping for - especially since I was traveling to a secured country, a country of peace, freedom and technology. I cannot bear this situation, and my psychological situation has become very difficult. I cannot bear this," VARIOUS OF SANANI TALKING TO FRIEND HAND HOLDING DOCUMENT OF VISA APPROVAL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) U.S. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY WINNER, RAFEK AHMED MOHAMMED AL-SANANI, SAYING: "My plan is to wait until they determine my fate and explain the result of these administrative procedures - whether they are going to hand me the visa or not. I cannot live in Malaysia, and they do not accept anyone holding a tourism visa to work here. I cannot do anything here," SERDANG, SELANGOR STATE, MALAYSIA (RECENT - JULY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.S. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY WINNER, OMAR HEIZAM NAJI MUTHANA (RIGHT), SITTING AND TALKING TO HIS FRIEND / CHILDREN PLAYING MUTHANA TALKING MUTHANA AND FRIEND TALKING / CHILDREN PLAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) U.S. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY WINNER, OMAR HEIZAM NAJI MUTHANA, SAYING: "After the U.S. embassy apologized, I was about to faint I was so surprised because my papers were right, and I was scared for the future of my children if that meant I was to return to Yemen. If I return to Yemen, my fate will be prison. And I suffer from debts - I have nothing to pay them back as I sold everything I have. I am under zero," MUTHANA ARRANGING DOCUMENTS LETTER KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (AUGUST 2, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MALAYSIA'S DEPUTY HOME MINISTER NUR JAZLAN MOHAMED SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIA'S DEPUTY HOME MINISTER, NUR JAZLAN MOHAMED, SAYING: "The first assistance (from Malaysia) is to allow them to stay here, because they come from a war-torn country, and because they are Muslim brothers. But it doesn't mean that we don't want to know who they are and what they are doing in the country. Humanitarian-wise, we are allowing them to stay in the country while we decide what goes on next. Maybe in Yemen things will calm down, and then they can go back, so it doesn't become issue anymore." SERDANG, SELANGOR STATE, MALAYSIA (RECENT - JULY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) YEMENI COMMUNITY GATHERED AT APARTMENT POOLSIDE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE TALKING TO EACH OTHER MAN LOOKING AT DOCUMENT YEMENI COMMUNITY SITTING AT POOLSIDE AREA
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2017 10:46
  • Keywords: Malaysia USA Diversity Visa program green card Yemen lottery
  • Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
  • City: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016SQQTZB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Living with eight people in a low cost apartment in Kuala Lumpur, Yemeni Rafek Ahmed Al-Sanani is facing a grim, uncertain future after his America dream was dashed by a temporary travel ban imposed by Donald Trump's administration.
    The ban, which was blocked by lower courts before being partially reinstated by the Supreme Court in June, temporarily bars citizens of Yemen and five other Muslim-majority countries with no "bona fide" connections to the United States from travelling there.
    Sanani, a 22-year-old farmer with a high school education, is one of the thousands of citizens of the six countries who won a randomized U.S. government lottery last year that enabled them to apply for a so-called 'green card', granting them permanent residence in the United States.
    In a stroke of bad luck for the lottery winners, the 90-day travel ban will expire on September 27, just three days before their eligibility for the green card expires. Given the slow pace of the immigration process, the State Department will likely struggle to issue their visas in time.
    The so-called "diversity visa" program was passed in its current form by Congress in 1990 to provide a path to U.S. residency for citizens from a range of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. It serves as a potent symbol of U.S. openness abroad, despite the fact that the chance of success is miniscule - about 0.3 percent, or slightly fewer than 50,000, of lottery entrants actually got a green card in 2015.
    For Yemenis, the situation is particularly difficult.
    With the United States not maintaining a diplomatic post in Yemen, its citizens are assigned to other countries to apply for their visas, and many of them to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The journey to a country 4,000 miles (6,400 km) away can be expensive and arduous for Yemenis, whose country, the Middle East's poorest, is embroiled in a two-year conflict.
    Sanani travelled to Kuala Lumpur in December via a route that included a 22-hour bus ride followed by flights to Egypt, Qatar and finally Malaysia, but the interview at the embassy never happened.
    He, along with hundreds of others, is now stuck in Malaysia, finding themselves unable to return to Yemen and hoping desperately that the U.S. will soon find a solution for them.
    Currently holding a tourist visa, Sanani is not allowed to work in Malaysia and is slowly running out of funds, much of which was borrowed from family and friends for the long journey.
    It is unclear exactly how many lottery winners are now caught up in the travel ban, which affects Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, but in 2015, more than 10,000 people from the six countries won the lottery, and 4,000 of them eventually got visas.
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