[UPDATED] Poor Syrian guy trapped in KLIA2 for over a MONTH!? What does he eat!?

[UPDATE: 03.10.18] 

Unlike in the movie, Hassan was arrested by the police recently. The Immigration director-general, Mustafar Ali mentioned that Hassan was in a restricted area without a boarding pass. He was not only remanded for 14 days but Mustafar added that his department will be working together with the Syrian embassy to facilitate Hassan’s deportation from Malaysia. If he’s found guilty, he may be faced with five year prison sentence, a fine of RM10,000 and a max six strokes of rotan. OMGwadaheckkk?!

But not everyone wants this guy to be arrested. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) actually requested the gomen to release Hassan.

[END OF UPDATE]

Imagine you’re about to board a plane back home after a wonderful trip when, suddenly, the flight denies your entry. Not only that, they take away your passport without any explanation and tell you to stay at the terminal. How terrible can that be?

Sounds like a movie played by Tom Hanks called ‘The Terminal‘ (above) but that is what happened to a 36-year-old Syrian, Hassan Al Kontar, who had been stranded in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) since March 7th, 2018. 

Hassan is trapped in KLIA2 because he refused to join the military

Hassan, who avoided serving his time in the military in Syria, went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to work as an insurance marketing manager.

His problems began when his passport expired after five years of working there legally. Like any other people, he wanted to renew his passport, but his request was denied, causing him to have no valid work or residency permit and turning him into an undocumented refugee.

When he decided to temporarily renew his passport, the UAE arrested him and gave him two options; go back to Syria or be sent to Malaysia.

Although going back to Syria means getting to see his family again, he didn’t want to risk himself getting arrested there or worse, death.

“I am a human being and I don’t consider it right to participate in war. It was not my decision.”

“I’m not a killing machine and I don’t want any part in destroying Syria. I don’t want blood on my hands. War is never the solution but unfortunately, even from where I am now, I am paying the price of its actions.” – Hassan al-Kontar, taken from BBC.com

So, he agreed to be deported to Malaysia in January 2017 since Malaysia allows entry to Syrians without visa! Wahh so nice ah?!

However, things didn’t turn out the way he thought it would be. He learnt (the hard way) that Malaysia does not formally recognise refugees when he faced difficulty in the process to get residency after four months of trying to find a job.

So, he saved up for a year and decided to go to Ecuador as it is one of the few countries that welcomes Syrians, recognises refugees, and has a clear path to residency. But, Turkish Airlines denied his entry as he was about to board the plane.

To make matters worse, he was blacklisted and fined for overstaying his tourist visa in Malaysia. He then thought of going to Cambodia since they provide visa upon arrival, but was asked to pay an amount of (under the table) money he couldn’t afford to pay. So, back to Malaysia it is.

Since then, Hassan had been documenting his stories on his Twitter account…

But, he’s not the only one stuck in limbo at a Malaysian airport

Aside from Hassan, there was a 22-year-old Palestinian who was stranded in KLIA for more than 50 days back in 2013. Ahmed Kanan was barred from entering Malaysia but couldn’t leave to other countries (he tried going to Turkey btw). He was finally allowed to enter Malaysia after the Palestinian Ambassador visited him in KLIA. Apparently, the ambassador “managed with securities and immigration to let him go back to Malaysia”, and Ahmed then found himself in Melaka where he planned to finish his studies.

In both cases, Hassan and Ahmed were barred from entering Malaysia, denied flight entries to travel elsewhere, and couldn’t go back to their home countries because they were considered as refugees. Oftentimes, people like them face trouble when it comes to crossing national borders due to their status or documents (Ahmed was denied entry to other countries because of his Palestinian passport). Most refugees are either turned down entry to other countries or deported back to their home country.

Besides refugees, there are several cases where Malaysians have been stranded in airports alone. In most cases, they were stranded because of missing documents… Wait how?

For instance, a 12-year-old was stranded in KLIA2 because her MyKid went missing although the girl’s father brought along a copy of her birth cert and a police report. They were supposed to go to Kuching but she ended up stranded alone while her father went back to Kuching to retrieve her passport for verification purposes.

In another separate case, a 45-year-old Malaysian lady, Nur Sohafa was found wandering aimlessly at the Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport, Bangladesh after her husband abandoned her. She was stranded because he took her passport with him! How tragic?!

Speaking of tragic, sometimes you’re just unlucky enough to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time. In some cases, Malaysians were stuck in limbo due to inevitable reasons like political imbalance and natural disasters.

For example, 127 Malaysians were trapped in Turkey’s airports in July 2016 after the country enforced a no-fly zone due to an overnight coup attempt. In another case, a Malaysian couple and their 10-month-old baby were stranded in Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali after Mount Agung erupted in November 2017. (But natural disasters eventually come to an end so not so bad la…)

It doesn’t matter if you’re alone or with hundreds of people, the idea of being trapped in the airport itself is scary, but…

You need to rely on the gomen in situations like these

If you’re wondering what our gomen is doing about Hassan’s case, here’s what the Deputy Home Minister commented ;

“The ministry will consider issuing the man a special pass but under the Syrian Refugee Programme here which has been running for over two years. There are currently over 3,000 refugees under the programme.”

– Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed told The Star

And since Hassan came from the Middle East, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed wanted to ensure that he was not a threat from the Islamic State (ISIS).

But if you’re stranded overseas, of course the first thing that comes to mind is to contact the Malaysian Embassy. That was what happened in the case of 127 Malaysians who were stuck in Turkey’s airports. Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told The Straits Times;

“Wisma Putra would coordinate with the Malaysian Embassy in Ankara to ensure the welfare and safety of Malaysians were protected.”

He also emphasised how those Malaysians must contact the Malaysian Embassy and follow their instructions religiously besides staying indoors to ensure their safety.

Aside from that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide a few services if you are ever stuck in limbo or, worse, arrested in airports such as:

1. Assisting in the transfer of necessary funds from relatives or friends from Malaysia 
2. Notifying your next-of-kin if you wish
3. Issuance of Emergency Certificate if you lose any important documents
4. Issuance, renewal and extension of travel documents

Besides the gomen, you can also rely on the aviation security officers. Remember the 12- year-old girl who was stranded alone in KLIA2? Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) (not gomen) claimed that they ensured the girl’s safety by means of CCTV surveillance while her father retrieved her passport from Kuching. He had left her for nine hours.

In the meantime, you can (try to) make the airport your home…

Although you can’t really wander around the airport as your movements are limited to the area you’re stuck at, you can still make yourself at home. But, how?

As Malaysians, one of our greatest concerns may be FOOD. Having living in the airport for more than a month, Hassan shared how he would give the cleaners money to bring him McD. However, he gave up McD for leftover chicken and rice meals from the airlines but finds small pleasures in having coffee. Ahmed, however, only had a burger to eat every single day after the first two days of not having anything to eat.

But, Ahmed was lucky in terms of having his clothes cleaned by one of the friendly airport cleaners. Unfortunately, Hassan is running out of clean clothes. This can be an issue if you’re stuck in limbo besides the trouble to get yourself cleaned up at the airport’s washrooms. Hassan told BBC News how he hadn’t had a proper shower at KLIA2.

Aside from food and clothes, it is also important to find a place to rest. If you’re stuck like Hassan and Ahmed, the only option you have are the chairs available at the area you’re stuck at. Ahmed slept on a couch at the News Lounge in the transit area on the airport’s mezzanine floor while Hassan had been sleeping on chairs but it wasn’t a big deal for him.

“I keep telling myself that I never heard about someone who died because he was sleeping on a chair, so I will be OK.” – Hassan told CBC Radio

And since we’re living in the technological era, it is wise to use our social media platforms to ask for help. Hassan used his Twitter account to update the world on his current conditions. He asked for help from various organisations like news outlets, the United Nations, and famous actors including Tom Hanks. 

So, instead of sending e-mails to airlines to ask them if your flight tickets can be reimbursed since you’re now stuck at the airport, just tweet or direct message them online! And since Hassan’s tweets gained enough attention…

Global volunteers are helping him… and so can you!

Hassan’s refusal to go back home (Syria) was what caused him to be stranded in KLIA2. As he was running out of clean clothes (and money), many wondered how they could lend him a helping hand.

A GoFundMe page was setup by Laurie Cooper of Canada Caring Society to help Hassan fly to Ecuador. While many donated money to Hassan for his flight ticket, a separate donation for clothes will also be sent to him. Lynda Elliot of Refugee Buddy Network, UK mentioned since it is hard to get the donation items to him as he is stuck in the arrivals section, an anonymous local representative will be responsible to get those items to him.

And, since we Malaysians are very caring people, ugaiz might wanna help him too!

And while being stranded at the airport is probably the last thing that comes to mind when travelling, it is important to know how to react and what to do. At least, with Hassan’s story, we can learn a thing or two, hope for the best for him… and pray that this won’t happen to anyone else!