Syrian girl disfigured by bomb attack refused US visa under Trump travel ban

Source: The Guardian

Syrian girl disfigured by bomb attack refused US visa under Trump travel ban

Exclusive: Marwa al-Shekh Ameen, 16, was denied a visa in December after doctors in Germany encouraged her to get treatment in the US

Amanda Holpuch in New York
Fri 18 Jan 2019 18.42 GMT

A 16-year-old Syrian refugee who was disfigured in a bomb attack on her home has been refused a visa to get medical treatment in the US because of Donald Trump’s travel ban, the Guardian can reveal.

Marwa al-Shekh Ameen resettled with her family in Germany, but doctors there encouraged her to seek more sophisticated medical treatment in America following 13 operations to repair trauma from third-degree burns to her face, arms and chest.

Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston scheduled an appointment to treat Marwa in November 2018 and a volunteer agency in Massachusetts offered to provide temporary housing for her and her father. But the US government denied her visa on 20 December, claiming there was not enough evidence to prove she would return to Germany.

This has stunned Marwa’s supporters, who emphasized that all six of her siblings, including a twin sister and her parents, grandparents and uncles have resettled in Germany and were integrated into their new home near Nuremberg.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/18/syria-refugee-bomb-victim-denied-visa-trump-travel-ban