BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

08/09/2008

Summer Exchange Student Refuses To Go Back To Belarus

PETALUMA, Calif. -- A Belarusian teenager who refused to return home from a summer exchange has applied for a student visa so she can attend school in Petaluma.

Tanya Kazyra, a 16-year-old staying with a family as part of the Chernobyl Childrens Project, is asking for the visa so she can stay in the country longer. Her lawyer Christopher Kerosky says the U.S. has been reluctant to issue student visas since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks eight years ago.

Kazyra was supposed to fly home a month ago after a six-week stay with her host family, Manuel and Debra Zapata. She said she wanted to stay because she was afraid to return home to an abusive father.

The Belarusian government demanded her return, accused the family of kidnapping and suspended all future exchange program trips for other children.

Source:

http://www.knbc.com/news/17418169/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news

Google
 


Partners:
Face.by Social Network
Face.by