Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
South Africans open their hearts to Syrian family
GOOD Samaritans from across the country have responded to the plight of a Syrian family seeking asylum in Cape Town.
This follows a Weekend Argus report detailing the rejection of their asylum applications on the basis that Department of Home Affairs reports showed they were not in danger despite their country enduring a civil war.
Omar Banian, his wife Reem and his children, Shahd, 10, Rand, 8, and Joudi, 6, arrived in South Africa a year ago with nothing but a few items of clothing and some spare money after spending most of what they had on their flight from the war-torn country.
After moving from place to place, they have ended up in the Bo-Kaap in a vacant house the owner has allowed them to use rent-free until her building plans have been finalised and their asylum concerns addressed.
Capetonians opened their hearts to the family, supplying them with cutlery, food, appliances and electricity. Banian, a spraypainter, secured a job at a workshop, but broke his legs after three days and hasn’t been able to return.
Last Saturday’s article elicited a flood of emails, calls and messages from readers wanting to help.
After several offers of financial aid, Cape Town attorney Shihaam Parker offered to allow people to deposit funds into her firm’s trust account.
A businessman who declined to be named said he intended to donate R10 000 to the family.
In addition, the family has been offered free legal assistance
‘My family would
love to invite the
Banian family to
our home to share
in our hospitality.
Please, our home
by the Joburg- based Muslim Lawyers Association and NGO Cage Prisoners.
They are already being advised by an advocate at the Cape Bar, Mustaque Holland, on a pro bono basis and the team of Joburg lawyers has offered to assist Holland where necessary.
Offers of employment for Banian have also come in, while others have been seeking Arabic- speaking tutors and counsellors for the children.
A Cape Town man living and working in Saudi Arabia who did not want to be named has contacted Weekend Argus to offer his assistance.
He said he has been in and out of Syria and may be able to offer assistance from that side.
“It is really an honour to have this family in Cape Town. We from Cape Town will never be able to comprehend their difficulties and struggles on an ongoing basis,” he said, adding that he had photographs of the situation in Syria taken during his travels.
“My family would love to invite the Banian family to our home to share in our hospitality, be it for lunch or dinner at a time at their behest. The Banians can bring along whosoever they want.
“Please, our home is theirs too,” he wrote.
He said he would be back in Cape Town next month.
● Anyone wanting to donate money to the family can use the following bank account: Parker Legal, FNB account 6243 2252 584 (attorneys’ trust account), branch code 200109.
Use “syrian donation” as a reference.
is theirs too.’