Lifestyle

Refugee family fell victim to Thomas Cook collapse


I booked flights to Mallorca for a family holiday in June through Thomas Cook. We have Iranian nationality and hold a UK residence permit and a UK refugee travel document. The Spanish embassy advised that I did not require a visa.

We arrived at Manchester airport at 3.30am to be greeted by a Thomas Cook representative who refused to allow us to board our flight, telling us we were not born in the UK and therefore needed a Schengen area visa.

Obviously, I know I was not born in the UK and I certainly did not need her to announce it so forcefully in front of a crowd of customers. This holiday was inexpressibly important to us after a stressful year, but we had no option but to return home. I’ve since checked with the Spanish embassy and have proof that our travel documents issued under the 1951 UN refugee convention entitle us to enter Spain without a visa.
MB, Manchester

You contacted me before the news of Thomas Cook’s crippling debts broke. Over the ensuing nine days I battled to extract redress from the company for your abysmal treatment. It blamed a “system error” and offered to refund your flights and associated costs, including accommodation you’d booked through another provider. It added a derisory £300 as goodwill between the three of you. Only after further badgering did it concede that you were owed compensation of €400 each for denied boarding under EU regulations. Then all went quiet. A week ago, it promised to look into why the money hadn’t reached you. Five days later it went into administration along with £2,400 it owed you.

Since you paid by debit card you are not protected by the Consumer Credit Act, which holds credit-card issuers jointly liable for a breach of contract. Visa operates a similar chargeback scheme for debit-card users, but it’s a voluntary protection rather than a legal obligation and you have to claim within 120 days of the purchase.

Your shocking experience is not uncommon. Following the 1985 Schengen agreement for a borderless Europe, airlines were effectively appointed as immigration controllers. They face fines of up to €5,000 if they are found to have carried inadequately documented passengers and pay to return them to the country they flew from.

The inevitable result is that the airlines err on the side of caution and, if they are presented with documents they are not familiar with, it is cheaper to turn passengers away.

This, of course, means that refugees and asylum seekers who don’t hold full EU passports are disproportionately affected. Judging from the cases that have come my way, they lose not only their holiday but their money, since airlines do not readily refund the fare unless a headline looms. It’s sickening that, due to Thomas Cook’s incompetence and prevarication, you’ve lost out once again.

If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions



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