The man who lived in an airport

from Witness History · host BBC World Service

In 1988, Mehran Karimi Nasseri, from Iran, flew into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris intending to transfer onto a flight to London. But he wasn’t allowed to board, as he didn’t have a passport. Caught in diplomatic limbo, he ended up staying at the airport for 18 years. Rachel Naylor speaks to his biographer, Andrew Donkin, who spent nearly three weeks with him at his ‘home’, in the departures lounge of Terminal 1.(Photo: Mehran Karimi Nasseri on his red bench at the airport in 2004. Credit: Eric Fougere via Getty Images)

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 23, 2023

Embed this episode

Attribution link and audio player

Ready to play

The man who lived in an airport

0:00 9:02

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

No similar episodes found.

Similar Podcasts

Historical Birthdays Today Primary Source Media Hosted by Jordan Sloane. Historical Birthdays Today is a daily, bite sized history podcast about historical figures who happened to be born that day! Couldn’t you tell from the title?Know any historical figures who were born on your birthday? How about your parent’s birthday? How about on February 29th? Join us and subscribe to find out!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Witness History?

This episode is 9 minutes long.

When was this Witness History episode published?

This episode was published on March 23, 2023.

Can I download this Witness History episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.

URL copied to clipboard!