HIS dream of pursuing higher studies took him to a foreign country, where it turned into a nightmare.

First, Luqman Hakim Hassan, 17, was detained for seven hours at Damascus airport in Syria.

Then when he finally got to a student hostel, immigration officers went there and hauled him back to the airport, where he was detained for four more days before being sent back to Singapore.

Last September, Luqman, who graduated from Singapore's Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah, decided to pursue a six-year Islamic Studies course at the Takhasssus College of Islam in Damascus.

His plan was to take an Arabic course for six months there from January, then come home for a break before returning to resume his studies later this year.

After checking with students and parents who have children studying in Syria, his parents got in touch with an agent whose name kept popping up.

ADVISED BY AGENT

The agent, they were told, acted ad-hoc for students heading to Syrian universities.

The agent advised Luqman to get his madrasah certificates endorsed by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis).

The agent said he would take care of the visa, flight and application for a international student card.

Luqman's housewife mother, Madam Hayati, 43, said her son was told that on arrival in Syria, senior students there would take care of the university application and accommodation.

His father, civil servant Hassan Ismail, 49, said: "We were reassured that things would go smoothly because other parents told us this was how it was done."

Luqman flew off with three senior students and five new students on 20 Dec.

At Damascus Airport, he was separated from the rest as they approached the immigration counters.

Luqman claimed the immigration officer spoke only Arabic and he tried communicating with what little Arabic he knew.

When asked if he intended to study in Syria, Luqman said he was merely visiting.

Luqman claimed the agent had told the students to say this as they had yet to submit their university applications.

But the officer insisted that Luqman produce a letter to show proof that he was a student. He was taken to a room and told to wait till he could get the letter.

By this time, the other students had cleared immigration.

Unsure of what to do, Luqman called the agent for help and was given the number of a senior student who was to have met them at the airport.

Luqman called the student twice, but was told he was not allowed to enter the immigration area.

Luqman said: "I was scared and didn't know what to do. They asked me a lot of things in Arabic. I understood only a little and I wasn't sure how to answer."

After seven hours, another immigration officer came in, handed over his passport and told him to go.

It was about midnight when he left the airport. When he could not see his fellow travellers, he took a taxi to the Abu Nour University.

Luqman and the other students had been instructed to stay at a hostel near this university while waiting to enter their respective universities.

FULL HOUSE

He said: "When the receptionist found out I was Singaporean, she told me the other Singaporeans had left for the airport to look for someone. She also told me the hostel was full."

So he went to another hostel nearby and managed to share a room with Indonesians.

Luqman said: "One of them knew a Singaporean student and called him."

The teen said he had slept for less than two hours when, around 3am, the senior Singaporean student he had called while he was detained and another student showed up to get him.

Luqman said: "They told me that they were at the airport around the time I left. We must have missed each other."

They were about to leave the hostel when two immigration officers arrived, and demanded that Luqman return with them to the airport.

And this was when his ordeal got worse.

He was put in a holding room with about 10 others, including Egyptians and Sudanese. He was the only Singaporean.

Luqman said: "I didn't know why I was detained again and no one spoke English. My passport was taken away again. No officer spoke to me."

The next day, an officer told him he would be released if he took the first flight back to Singapore.

It was then that he contacted his parents.

He said: "I sent an SMS message to my mother and told her I was being detained, but not to worry because I was being put on a flight back."

But he could not get on the flight as it was full. That started off a string of SMS messages to his parents.

Luqman said: "My battery was nearly flat so all I could do was to send them text messages."

Mr Hassan called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here for help.

He said he was told that since Singapore does not have a consulate in Syria, diplomatic officers from Cairo would help.

By then, Madam Hayati was so worried that she could not sleep.

She said: "I was so afraid for him... All sorts of things were running through my head."

Madam Hayati's cousin, Madam Aadillah Mohd Ali, 43, a passenger services officer with Singapore Airport Terminal Services, got in touch with the station manager of the airline that Luqman had flown to Syria.

"They got their station manager in Syria to speak to the Syrian officials to put him on their plane out," Madam Hayati said.

Luqman said that on the third day, a consular official from the Egyptian embassy and an airline station manager also spoke to him.

ALL CLEAR

He was given the all-clear to leave.

Mr Hassan said: "We never expected this (incident) to happen." His wife added: "We want to warn others planning to study overseas to make sure all the necessary documents are settled before going there.

"I'm just so glad my son came home safe."

Luqman was so traumatised by the experience that he has shelved plans of studying overseas. He plans to continue his studies in Singapore.

Attempts to reach the agent over fours days were unsuccessful. The New Paper also e-mailed queries to the Syrian embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, but there was no reply at press time.

zubaidah@sph.com.sg