Bangkok airport

Zimbabwe family leave Bangkok airport after three months

The family - four children under the age of 11 and four adults - first arrived in Bangkok in May.

When they tried to leave in October for Spain, they didn't have the right visas.

They couldn't legally re-enter Thailand as they'd overstayed their tourist visas and had to pay a fine. But they said they could not return to Zimbabwe because they faced persecution.

Zimbabwean family stranded in Bangkok airport for months

According to the Thai immigration bureau, the four children under 11 and four adults arrived in Bangkok in May, but are refusing to return to Zimbabwe for fear of persecution.

Their plight came to light after someone who said he worked at Suvarnabhumi airport posted a photo on Facebook showing himself giving a little African girl a Christmas present.

In the now deleted post, Kanaruj Artt Pornsopit said the family had been living in the airport for nearly three months "because of the unsettled situation" in their country.