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Tourist in US chained 'like Hannibal Lecter'

Nelli Bird
BBC News
Paul Burke Becky Burke smiles as she hugs Bo Jangles. She has long plaited brown hair and is wearing glasses. A bottle of sparkling wine - possibly champagne - can be seen on a table behind them.Paul Burke
Becky Burke has been reunited with her family and dog, Bo Jangles

A tourist held in the US for 19 days was removed in chains like Hannibal Lecter, according to her parents.

Becky Burke, 28, arrived home in Wales on Tuesday from her ordeal which began half way through a backpacking trip across North America.

Parents Paul and Andrea Burke said their daughter was "traumatised" but happy to be back in Portskewett, Monmouthshire.

"She is enjoying some of the home comforts that most of us take for granted," Mr Burke said.

"Relishing just sitting in the garden, having a comfy bed, pillow and warm clothes.

"For 19 days she was just wearing the same prison clothes."

Becky's parents said they were not sure their daughter was on the plane until she walked through the gates.

"It was very, very emotional," Mrs Burke said.

"We were on tenterhooks really, just watching the door for what seemed like forever."

Mr Burke said: "When you have been holding on like we have for this, when we saw her come through the gates, all of what we had held in was released. It was another surreal day."

The couple were not pushing her to tell them what happened.

Becky Burke's dad says she was taken from a detention centre handcuffed and chained at the legs and waist

"It must be overwhelming for her to suddenly be able to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it," Mrs Burke said.

"And to sleep for as long as she wants to without fluorescent lights on 24 hours a day.

"But she also feels awful for leaving the others behind."

Her parents said Becky had spoken about her removal by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"On Monday she was taken from the detention facility, to a location close to the airport, ready to be taken to the plane," Mr Burke said.

Paul Burke Becky Burke in a blue woolly hat and green jacket standing on the Brooklyn Bridge in New YorkPaul Burke
Becky began her backpacking trip on 7 January

Mrs Burke said nobody outside of the detention facility knew she had been taken.

"She was taken in leg chains, waist, chains and handcuffs.

"She is not Hannibal Lecter. She said she could only walk with the support of an ICE officer."

Mrs Burke added she could not believe it when she was told.

"There are lot of things we need to address through political channels to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else," Mr Burke said.

Becky, an artist, wrote and drew while she was detained.

Her parents said she hopes to write a graphic novel about the experience.

During her trip she stayed with families helping with housework in return for a place to stay.

Paul Burke Becky Burke in a pink hat wearing a beige jumper is standing smiling, holding two fingers up in the "peace" sign. A forest can be seen in the background, and blue sky above it. Paul Burke
She was denied entry at the US-Canada border

At the end of February she went to Seattle with plans to go to Vancouver, in Canada.

But at the border, Mr Burke said Canadian authorities refused her entry, saying she needed to return to the US.

There she was held at detention centre in Tacoma, in Washington state.

Mr and Mrs Burke said they had been completely overwhelmed by the support.

A US customs spokesman previously said they could not discuss specific cases but that travellers were treated with "integrity, respect and according to law".