A family of Iraqi-Syrian refugees, who were stuck in a Moscow airport for more than two months, has been granted temporary political asylum in Russia, the Meduza news website reported Monday, citing the family's lawyer.
The residence permit has been given for one year, with the possibility of extension, lawyer Roza Magomedova told Meduza.
Gulistan Shaho Issa, her partner and four children arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Sep. 10 on a flight from Iraq, and approached customs officials requesting asylum. Their passports aroused the suspicion of immigration officers, and were later declared by unidentified experts to be counterfeit — an allegation confirmed by the Syrian Embassy. The family was forced to live in the transit zone of the airport until Nov. 20, 2015.
The asylum seekers were later moved to a temporary accommodation center in the western Tver region.
The family's previous request for refugee status, filed in October 2015, was rejected.
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