Airport stories are endless , the unions , the departures , the love and the separation — all of this happen here in Airport Terminals ! But some stories are way different and unbelievable !
A Saturday - 12th November news says , "The Terminal Man" is no More ! Mehran Karimi Nasseri , who lived a sizable portion of his life in an Airport Terminal Inspiring Steven Spielberg 2004 film ‘The Terminal’, died in Paris Airport Terminal 2F.
Believed to be an Iranian refugee , he had lived in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 1 for 18 years (1988 to 2006) , sleeping on a bench , after he was stuck there due to lost documents.
Caught originally in that immigration trap — unable to enter France and with nowhere to go — he became dependent on his unusual place of abode and increasingly a national and international cause célèbre.
Born in 1945 in Masjed Soleiman, in the Iranian province of Khuzestan as per some records and investigations, Karimi Nasseri, took up residence in the airport in November 1988 after flying from Iran to London, Berlin and Amsterdam in an effort to locate his mother.
He had been rejected and expelled from every other country he landed in because he was unable to produce the correct paperwork, and ended up in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 1.
The airport could not take bold steps to forcibly move or repatriate Mr. Nasseri because of a number of international refugee statutes at the time , his life there depended on the kindness of strangers. People who heard his tragic situation, sent him money in the mail.
At Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport an informal support network grew up around him, providing food and medical help along with books and a radio.
During that period , Airport staffs helped him with meal coupons, while flight attendants would give him unused toiletries of first-class passengers. In the year 1999 , he was granted refugee status and the right to remain in France , but he didn’t leave the Terminal 1 of CDG.
Content with his surroundings , Karimi Nasseri , who later referred himself as 'Sir Alfred' had said,
“I’m not quite sure what I want to do, stay at Roissy or leave,” he said after being handed the right to live in France. “I have papers, I can stay here, I think I should carefully study all the options before making a decision.”
Current statement is — Mehran Karimi Nasseri died of natural causes just before midday on Saturday in terminal 2F at Charles de Gaulle airport outside the French capital. His tragic story shows how our borders and bureaucracies can break people and affect lives.
