Mehran Karimi Nasseri

During 2006-2007, Nasseri was hospitalized and was looked after by the airport’s French Red Cross. He was transferred to a charity centre in Paris, and he’s been living there since then.

His story was the inspiration behind the 2004 blockbuster, ‘The Terminal’. He was reportedly paid US$250,000 by the production company, DreamWorks, to buy the rights of his life story. His story also inspired the 1994 French film ‘Tombés du ciel’, which was also released under the title, ‘Lost in Transit’ all around the world.

His autobiography, ‘The Terminal Man’, was also published in 2004. It was co-authored by British author Andrew Donkin, and received positive reviews by some of the biggest newspapers and magazines, including the UK’s ‘Sunday Times’.

Nasseri was born in 1942 in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company settlement in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. His mother was a Scottish nurse while his father was an Iranian physician working for the company.

In 1973, he moved to the United Kingdom to study Yugoslav at the ‘University of Bradford’. After completing his education, he went back to Iran, and came to know about the protests taking place against Mohammad Reza Shah.

He decided to join the revolution. Due to his political views and protests, he was eventually expelled from Iran in 1977.

After a constant struggle for a long period of time, he was finally granted the status of a refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Belgium.

He was given the right to live and travel across Europe, and so he decided to live in the UK. He moved to the UK in 1986, and further decided to settle in London around 1988.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Nasseri’s suitcase was stolen while he was still in Paris. His suitcase contained his passport as well as other legal documents. Despite lost papers, he travelled to London with the hope that the authorities will listen to his plea, and help him find a solution. But nothing like happened at the Heathrow airport in London.

He was sent back to Paris, as he didn’t have any of the required documents. He returned to Paris’ airport but faced a strange situation.

He was arrested for having no documents. The silver lining was that he had travelled to Paris on legal terms, so he was released. It was surmised that he had nowhere to go but stay at the airport itself.

His case was further taken by Christian Bourget, a human rights lawyer in 1992, but the court ruled that he won’t be allowed to enter Paris unless he has his documents. The same court also ruled that he cannot be asked to leave the terminal or expelled from the airport.

That was the beginning of him becoming an urban legend at the departure lounge of Terminal one of the Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Nasseri got trapped at the airport on 26th August, 1988, and for the next 17 years, he continued living there.

His routine included waking up at 5.30 and using the washroom before the arrival of passengers. He used travel kits to brush his teeth and trim his beard.

He was adopted by the airport, and was offered food and meal vouchers by airport personnel. He had his own table and chair where he used to watch the passengers moving, planes flying, and days passing, as he read his favorite books.

He also used to indulge into conversations with passersby, and staff of the airport. He used to wash his clothes late at night in the washroom.

Even after spending so many years living at the airport, Nasseri was always been very soft-spoken and took care of his personal hygiene. Keeping his dignity intact, he many a time turned down money and clothes offered to him by people.