For years, travelers passing through Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport encountered a man who was as much concerned with the terminal as with the passengers, flight boards, and the waiting areas surrounding it. Mehran Karimi Nasseri lived in the airport for almost 18 years, and transformed a small space near Terminal 2F into a place of routine, reflection and survival. His unusual circumstances began with a complex immigration exam that left him unable to move freely between countries. Although Nasseri eventually left the terminal, his association with the airport never completely ended. Decades later, the place where he was once trapped becomes the place where his extraordinary journey ends.
Mehran Karimi Naseri’s journey from Iran in 1945 to 18 years of life paris airport
(Born in 1945 in the Khuzestan province of Iran, Nesri left his country as a young man in search of his mother, beginning a journey that would take him across Europe.He spent time in Belgium before attempting to establish a life in other European countries. However, without the necessary immigration documents, he faced repeated difficulties. Authorities in countries including the UK, the Netherlands and Germany refused to allow them to stay, forcing them to move on. Eventually, Naseri reached France. Instead of finding a permanent place to settle, he got stuck in a complicated legal situation, which left him stuck at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
How Nasseri transformed a Paris airport terminal into his everyday home
Inside the airport, Nasseri built a routine around the only environment available to him. His possessions were stored in luggage trolleys next to him, and a bench near the terminal became his main living space.He spent hours writing in notebooks, reading newspapers and observing the endless movement of passengers around him. While thousands of people passed through the airport every day to head to different destinations, Nasseri remained in one place.The airport staff gradually became familiar with him. He was no longer just a passenger waiting for a flight. He became a permanent figure in the daily life of the terminal.His situation attracted the attention of journalists who were fascinated by the story of a man living in one of the busiest airports in the world. Naseri often introduced himself as “Sir Alfred”, a name he adopted during his years there, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
PC: SCMP
How did Naseri’s airport home survive even after the legal battle ended?
Naseri’s legal status eventually changed. In 1999, he was granted refugee status and allowed to live in France, according to SCMP reports.However, gaining the ability to leave the airport did not immediately end his unusual lifestyle. He remained at Charles de Gaulle until 2006, when he was taken to hospital due to health problems.After leaving the terminal, Nasseri spent time staying in a hostel. His story was unusual because the airport was not just a place where he was stuck. Over nearly two decades, it had become the center of his daily existence.
The last return of Charles de Gaulle
Years after leaving the terminal, Nasseri returned to Charles de Gaulle Airport a few months before his death.According to airport officials, he died of natural causes in November 2022. Several thousand euros were reportedly found in his luggage.His life became linked by an extraordinary image: a man sitting in an airport while the world spun around him. But behind that image was a complex story of migration, legal uncertainty and the search for belonging.