These People Lived In Airports For Months And Years

By- Khushi Bisht

Around 3 a.m., every airport's departure lounge would be filled with sleeping people. Can you imagine having to go through the same thing each day for weeks, months, or even years? That is precisely what the individuals mentioned below had to do.

Aditya Singh, 36, was detained by local authorities after spending at least three months in the protected area of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Because of the coronavirus epidemic, he was so terrified to fly that he ended up residing in the airport for months undetected. Throughout this time, he depended on strangers' generosity to buy him food, slept in the terminals, and used the numerous restrooms.

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All was going swimmingly until two United Airlines employees questioned Singh and demanded him to show his credentials. He motioned to a badge, but it was supposedly the property of an operations manager who declared it missing in October.

Employees from the airline dialled 911 and Singh was apprehended by police. According to the investigation, he was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to a prohibited area of an airport and felony stealing.

The main mystery here is how security officers at O'Hare, one of the busiest airports in the world, could have overlooked someone staying in the restricted area of the airport? Well, it's not difficult to live in airports as airports have much of the essential necessities for life, such as food, water, toilets, and shelter.

Let us now discuss about some of the people who have been discovered living in the airports. These people were stuck in airports for months, even years, due to visa and entry issues, a lack of legal papers, or just that they ran out of money. They could only watch and wait as millions of travellers fly through the airport, on their way to vacation or back home to caring families.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri: For over 17 years, this Iranian man resided at France's Charles de Gaulle Airport. From 1988 to 2006, he resided at Terminal 1. He said that he was expelled from Iran and that his papers were stolen when he was travelling to the United Kingdom. Since he was unable to provide a passport to British immigration authorities, he was forced to return to France. His time at the airport ended when he was hospitalised and then transferred to Paris.

Sanjay Shah: The Kenyan man was stranded in Nairobi Airport for 13 months after attempting to reach the Uk on a British Overseas Resident passport.He was denied entry and was forced to fly to Nairobi. He began staying in the airport as a kind of protest against his inability to reach the United Kingdom. After months of waiting, Shah was eventually granted a full British passport, allowing him to return to the UK.

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Mohammed Al Bahish: He is a Palestinian refugee from Iraq. He left for Almaty, Kazakhstan. He only wished to marry the mother of his unborn baby. Sadly, when archives demonstrating his refugee status disappeared and his visas terminated, neither the Kazakhs nor the Turks would permit him in. He was eventually able to spend the next 150 days in a small 3m x 2m lock-up. He wasn't even permitted to use the restroom by himself. Finally, Finland concluded that no individual could survive under such conditions and gave him refuge.

Being stranded and staying in airports for days may sound unusual, but it is not unheard of. There have been several more that have gone through the same ordeal. Airport authorities, for the most part, have attempted to assist these voluntary tenants.