Mustafa Mamay was arrested in 2008 while an undergraduate university student in the city of Adana, Turkey. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for attending a press conference organised by the then pro-Kurdish party DTP (Democratic Society Party).
He says that he was charged for committing a crime on behalf of an organisation without being a member of the organisation. Members of the organisation were also sentenced to six years and three months in prison.
“I attended the press conference as a Kurdish student, and then the Turkish authorities said that the conference was illegal," Mamay says. "I was arrested and imprisoned for eight months.”
His sentence of six years and three months imprisonment was approved in his absence in 2012.
“If I had stayed in Turkey I would have been imprisoned for a non-existent crime so I had no choice but to flee the country.”
Mamay tells SBS Kurdish that he fled to the Kurdish regions of Syria known as Rojava, and stayed there around two years. While he was there he reported on the situation in Syrian city of Afrin when it as attacked by Turkey.
“I continued my journalism work there, reporting from the Afrin," he says. "I stayed there for two years until Turkey’s attack on Afrin.”
From Syria he crossed the border to Kurdistan Region, Iraq and from there through smugglers he travelled to Switzerland via South Africa.
“I did not have any legal documents to travel with because I had a conviction on me in Turkey I was not able to go to the department to obtain a passport,” says Mamay.
The journey from Kurdistan Region, Iraq to South Africa and then to Switzerland was a difficult and long one for Mamay. He tells SBS Kurdish that he arrived in Switzerland 51 days ago but the Swiss authorities want to know why he did not apply for asylum in South Africa.
“The authorities here are saying why I did not apply for asylum in South Africa and my argument is that going through South Africa was not my choice it was the smugglers’ choice, I was not aware the route was via South Africa.”
The Swiss authorities say before Mr Mamay came to Switzerland he was in South Africa and should have applied for asylum there.
Mamay has been stranded in Zurich airport for 51 days and he says that each day is more difficult than the previous.
“You cannot go anywhere you are stuck here," he says. "I mean it’s an airport, yes it’s not a prison but you cannot go anywhere.”
According to the Swiss law asylum seekers are allowed to stay in the airport for up to 60 days and during this time accommodation is organised by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).
“They have organised a camp for asylum seekers, it’s called SEM, through immigration department. I have a room, I sleep and eat there.”
Mamay tells SBS Kurdish that initially there were 30 Kurds stranded with him, seeking asylum in the airport which included three families with children. Most of them have been accepted and at the moment only Mamay and another Kurd are left. The three families have also travelled via South Africa to Switzerland said Mustafa Mamay.
“Asylum seekers can stay in the airport for 60 days, and 60 days later the authorities have to give an answer whether being accepted as an asylum seeker or not. So I have got nine days for them to reply to my application.”
Mamay’s first application seeking asylum was rejected by the Department of Immigration and Foreign Affairs in Switzerland and now the decision is up to the court.
While Mamay has recently learned that he will not be deported to South Africa, he remains in the airport, awaiting news as to whether his claim to seek asylum in Switzerland will be accepted.
