Her uncles and their families were then put back on a Qatar Airways flight back to Doha. The flight was scheduled to leave Philadelphia at about 9:30 a.m., but left later in the morning, she said.



It wasn't until they were on the plane that they were able to call her father, she said.



"They were told their paperwork is not valid," she said. "They weren't told what or why."



"My uncle didn't understand the situation," she said. "He thought he would be imprisoned." So he didn't argue and agreed to leave, she said.



Damascus is about 1,000 miles from Doha. She said she didn't know if her relatives had driven to the Doha airport or if they had flown from Damascus.



"Frustration, confusion, fear" are what her uncles and their families feel, she said.



Her 58-year-old father, who was taking a nap when a reporter called, is "definitely angry, he's upset," Assali said. Her father had bought a second home in Allentown for his brothers, one older and one younger, and their families.