In a shocking turn of events, an exiled Iranian man who was stuck at a Parisian airport for the past 18 years has sadly passed away.
According to media publications, Iranian national named Mehran Karimi Nasseri died of natural causes on Saturday in terminal 2F at Charles de Gaulle airport outside the French capital. Nasseri was 77 years old at the time of his demise.
For starters, Nasseri was caught up originally in an immigration trap which rendered him unable to enter France or go anywhere else, ultimately stranding him at the airport terminal. Nasseri’s unusual situation forces him to depend on his unusual place for survival; a small section of airport parquet, and plastic bench became his domain.
Nasseri was born in 1945 in Masjed Soleiman, in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, to Karimi Nasseri. He was allegedly expelled from Iran in 1977 on account of protesting against the Shah and was given refugee status in Belgium. The deceased took residence in the airport in November 1988 after flying from Iran to London, then Berlin, and finally Amsterdam to locate his mother. Unable to produce valid paperwork, he had been barred from entering any other country he landed.
Upon return to France, Nasseri was detained and then released into the Terminal 1 building with just his suitcase, relying on food and medicine from airport employees. At the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, Nasseri had an informal support network providing him with food and medical assistance along with books and a radio. The late exiled individual’s odd situation labeled him as an international cause célèbre due to which he called himself “Sir Alfred.”
In 1992, a French court ruled that Nasseri could not be expelled from the airport but shall not enter the country. In 1999, Nasseri was granted refugee status and the right to remain in France, and residency by both France and Belgium which he ultimately refused.
Inspiring a blockbuster Hollywood classic, the 2004 film The Terminal starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the Iranian national was offered $250,000 for the rights to his story by Spielberg’s Dreamworks production company.
Nasseri, reportedly after spending most of the money he received for The Terminal, returned to the airport a few weeks later with several thousand euros found on him.
Malala calls for justice for Iranian girl who died in police custody
