‘Greek tourists’ stranded in Tonga

TONGA – Seven Georgians who arrived in Tonga as tourists on September 22 with allegedly stolen Greek passports, were arrested on Friday and charged with dealing with forged documents.

They were to appear at the Nuku’alofa Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The seven accused had reportedly arrived in Tonga pretending to be Greek tourists using stolen Greek passports.

Acting Police Commissioner Viliami ‘Unga Fa’aoa said police had executed a search warrant at their accommodation and arrested them.

Seven Georgian passports were seized in the search.

Kaniva News reports that the tourists were about to board a plane from Tonga to Auckland on Wednesday when Immigration New Zealand notified Tongan police that six of the travellers’ passports had been reported stolen to Interpol and one had failed a scan test.

The case has been linked to a joint operation conducted by international law enforcement agencies, a police source said.

The manager of the Green Lodge in Tofoa, Tongatapu, where the tourists were originally staying, Tupou’ahau Fungavaka, said she and her family had offered to provide the group extended accommodation and food under a credit deal after they were sent back from the airport.

“We agreed they would pay me back and they said they would receive some money from Greece and we are waiting for it,” Fungavaka said.

She said one of them was sick and she had offered to pay for his medication.

One of the tourists was a young boy she thought was about the age of somebody in class five at Primary School, Fungavaka said.

“I told them we have run out of money and can no longer provide them with the type of food they want,” she said.

“I told them they would have to eat together with us. The only food we have is soup and Tongan food.”

She said they told her they were dying to return home for their studies and work, but they were still waiting for their passports.

None of them spoke English and Fungavaka said an interpreter from overseas was helping their communication via telephone. She was concerned about who would repay her for the cost of housing and feeding the tourists if they were unable to return home soon and did not receive the financial assistance. She wanted to know whether or not the Tongan government could help in situation like this.

- Kaniva News