List of people who have lived at airports

This is a list of people notable for living for periods of more than a week in airports. The reasons are usually protests, asylum seeking or holiday difficulties.

People who have lived at airports

Profile	Name	Original nationality	Location	Period	Duration	Reason for stay	Reason for leaving
	Mehran Karimi Nasseri	Iranian[1]	Charles de Gaulle Airport, France [2]	26 August 1988 – July 2006[1]	6518 – 6548 days (17.84 – 17.93 years)	He was exiled from Iran and later his documents were stolen in Paris en route to the United Kingdom. He was refused entry.[2]	He was hospitalised, stayed in hotel by Red Cross and then moved to Paris by Emmaus.[2]
	Denis Luiz de Souza	Brazilian	São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, Brazil[3]	Circa 2000 – today[3]	15–16 years (roughly)	After frequent conflicts at home, he decided to take refuge in the airport. He seems to suffer from psychological problems to this date.[3]	Still lives in the airport, but comes out occasionally.[3]
	Sanjay Shah	Kenyan	Nairobi Airport, Kenya[4]	May 2004 – 12 July 2005[4]	407 – 437 days (1.11 – 1.20 years)	He tried to enter the United Kingdom on a British Overseas citizen passport but was barred entry. He had already handed in his Kenyan Passport and upon return to Nairobi began protesting.[4]	He obtained full British citizenship.[4]
	Zahra Kamalfar	Iranian	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russia[5]	May–June 2006 – 15 March 2007[5]	258 - 318 days	She and her family were fleeing persecution in Iran and seeking asylum in Canada.[5]	Their asylum was granted by the Canadian government.[5]
	Tetsuya Abo	Japanese	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia[6]	29 May 2015 - 9 August 2015[7]	185 days	Abo claims to be a journalist, and he also claims that there is a political motivation. He wishes to gain Russian citizenship.[6]	He was denied political asylum in Russia.[7]
	Mohammed Al Bahish	Iraqi-Palestinian	Almaty International Airport, Almaty, Kazakhstan[8]	March 20, 2013 – August 17, 2013	150 days	In Kazakhstan, while registering intention to marry, his refugee travel documents went missing, and his Kazakh and Emirati visas expired. He later flew to Turkey in the hope of renewing his Kazakh visa, but was turned back at the border. Subsequently flown back and forth 4 times and refused entry by either country.	Was allowed to go to a UNHCR refugee transit centre in Timisoara, Romania, and later granted asylum in Finland.[9]
	Hiroshi Nohara	Japanese	Mexico City International Airport, Mexico[10]	2 September 2008 – 28 December 2008[10][11]	117 days	Nohara declined to give his reasons.[11]	He left with a woman identified as Oyuki.[11]
	Ahmed Kannan	Palestinian	Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang, Malaysia[12]	21 May 2013 – 13 July 2013 [13]	114 days	Arrived without passport because it had been confiscated in Turkey. After having overstayed during May 2013 in Malaysia, he had flown from Kuala Lumpur to Turkey, but without a Turkish visa. His passport was seized by Turkish immigration and he was deported back to Kuala Lumpur.	Released at 16:00 (UTC+8) on 13 July 2013. Granted 30-days Malaysian visa on humanitarian grounds.[13]
	Yvonne Paul	Dutch	Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands	October 1967 – 5 January 1968[14]	66 – 96 days	She wanted to return to the United States.[14]	She was arrested.[14]
	Feng Zhenghu	Chinese[15]	Narita International Airport, Japan[15]	9 November 2009 – 3 February 2010[15][16]	86 days	He began protesting after being refused re-entry into China.[15]	He was visited by several Chinese diplomats and entered Japan with anticipation of being allowed to re-enter Shanghai by mid-February. This later occurred although he is now under house-arrest at his Shanghai apartment.[16][17]
	Khasan Aman Ando, Gulistan Issa Shakho, and four children	Syrian	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia[18]	10 September 2015 – 20 November 2015[19]	71 days	Family of Kurdish refugees fleeing the war in Iraq who intended to seek asylum in Russia. After being initially denied entry into the country, they remained at the airport.[19][18]	The family was moved to a facility for temporary accommodation while they await further processing of their asylum application.[19]
	Edward Snowden	American	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia[20]	23 June 2013 – 1 August 2013 [21]	39 days	When Snowden boarded a flight to Moscow-Sheremetyevo, authorities revoked his U.S. passport.	Granted temporary asylum in Russia.[22]
	Gary Peter Austin	British	Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Philippines[23]	19 December 2012 – 11 January 2013[24]	23 days	He missed his flight. He had run out of money to book a new flight.[25]	Donors paid for a ticket back to the United Kingdom.[26]
	Heinz Müller	German	Viracopos-Campinas International Airport, Brazil	October 16–29, 2009[27]	13 days	He flew to Rio de Janeiro to meet with a woman he met online, but she did not show up. He ran out of money and ended up in Campinas.[27]	He was taken to a hospital for a psychological evaluation.[27]

See also

• International zone
• Statelessness
• The Terminal
• Tombés du ciel
• Eve Bunting, whose illustrated children's book Fly Away Home is about a homeless man and his son who live in an airport

References