| people - unusual circumstances - stuck in the airport | ||||||||
| Sir
Alfred (Merhan Karimi Nasseri) - Stuck in the Charles de Gaulle Airport
for 14 Years
Merhan Karimi Nasseri (or Nessari) was born in Iran in 1945. His father was an Iranian doctor and his mother a nurse. At the age of 29, Nasseri traveled to Britain to study. While in Britain, Nasseri's father died and since his parents had never married, his school funding was halted. Forced to return back to Iran, Nasseri participated in protests against the Iranian government. He was quickly arrested and then expelled from Iran without a passport. He traveled around Europe for 4 years seeking political asylum until the Belgium government granted him refugee status in 1981.
The Belgian government was contacted and they flatly stated that any refugee who left the country automatically forfeits their rights. From the Boston Globe:
Hence, without a Visa, Nasseri could not step outside of the Charles de Gaulle airport terminal and there he stayed, living in the airport, for the next 12 years. Nasseri, currently in his mid-50's, stays in Terminal 1 of the Charles de Gaulle airport. He sleeps on the airport bench and washes up in the airport restrooms before the daily passengers arrive. He spends his free time reading books and magazines, studying economics, and writing in his diary. He doesn't accept charity but makes it by on food vouchers handed out by the airport personnel.
Whether or not Nasseri refuses to leave because of the offensive Belgian papers presented to him, because he feels safe there now, or because his enjoying his celebrity status, is up in the air. Most agree that after 14 years in an airport, Sir Alfred's state of mind has definitely gone south. "He is mentally ill," Dr. Philippe Bargain, the airport's medical director, is quoted as saying. Nasseri is no longer capable of making a rational decision (think about that the next time you're stuck in the airport). Sir Alfred is still at the Charles de Gaulle airport today although to spice up his life a little he has moved to a different terminal...
Sources (1) The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams
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Not content with his excellent luck up until this point, Nasseri decided
to travel to England to search for long lost relatives and to do some
postgraduate studies. Nasseri figured that since his mother was British
and he'd done some post graduate work there before, he was entitled to
some sort of British citizenship. Unfortunately, in a French train
station he was mugged and all his personal belongings stolen including
his passport and the paperwork that indicated Nasseri was a refugee
living in Belgium. When Nasseri arrived in the Heathrow Airport in 1988
without a passport, authorities captured him and deported him back to
France. Upon arriving in France, the authorities there, who also refused
to accept him without a passport, had no place to deport him to since
there was no evidence of where he should be sent. They also refused to
give him a visa.
As word spread, Nasseri began receiving tons of correspondence from
well-wishers all over the world. He adapted the pseudonym Sir Alfred
when he responded to the letters (apparently in deference to his desire
for British citizenship) and the name has stuck ever since. "Sir
Alfred" settled in at the airport and is apparently happy with his
new life there because in 1999, the Belgian government agreed to send
Nasseri his refugee papers - Sir Alfred refused them. Nasseri claims
that the Belgian documents refer to him as an "Iranian" which
he takes offense to since Iran is what started this whole mess anyway. 
