Mehran Nasseri who lived in Paris airport for 18 years dies

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Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who was in a precarious diplomatic situation in 1988, settled in a small area of the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport.

His experience inspired the 2004 film, The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks.

Although Nasseri eventually received permission to reside in France, he recently returned there and passed away of natural causes there, according to an airport official who spoke to AFP.

Nasseri, who first flew to Europe in search of his mother, was born in the Iranian province of Khuzestan in 1945.

After being expelled from nations such as the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany for possessing incorrect immigration documents, he spent a number of years living in Belgium. He then traveled to France and settled down in the airport's terminal.

Nasseri lived in the terminal from 1988 until 2006, first in legal limbo because he lacked residency papers and later by apparent choice.

“Eventually, I will leave the airport,” he told the Associated Press in 1999. “But I am still waiting for a passport or transit visa.”

Originally, Belgium granted him refugee credentials, through the UNHCR, but he said his briefcase containing the refugee certificate was stolen at a Paris train station.

French police later arrested him, but they weren't able to deport him anywhere because he had no official documents. He ended up at Charles de Gaulle in August 1988 and stayed there for 18 years. 

Further bureaucratic bungling and increasingly strict European immigration laws kept him in a legal no man’s land for years.

When he finally received refugee papers, he was surprised and felt insecure about leaving the airport, so he reportedly refused to sign the papers and ended up staying there for several more years until he was hospitalized in 2006. Later, he lived in a Paris shelter.

He spent his days writing about his life in a notebook and reading books and newspapers while curled up on his bench, surrounded by trolleys filled with the things he had accumulated.

His story attracted international media attention and caught the eye of Stephen Spielberg, who directed The Terminal, starring Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Journalists flocked to interview the man who served as the inspiration for the Hollywood movie after its release. At one point, Nasseri, who called himself "Sir Alfred", was giving up to six interviews a day, Le Parisien reported.

He was given refugee status and the ability to stay in France in 1999, but he remained there until 2006 when he was taken to a hospital for medical attention. According to the French newspaper Libération, he then spent time living in a hostel with the money he received for the film.

Nasseri returned to the airport a few weeks ago, where he lived until his death, according to an airport official.

He was discovered with several thousand euros in his possession, according to the official.