Corona Daily 454: Flying to Nowhere

Forty year old Edgard Zeibat, a German, was flying from Vietnam to Turkey on 18 March. He had to transit through Delhi. On landing in Delhi, he learnt his Delhi-Istanbul flight was cancelled. Most other connections were rapidly cancelled. The airport was emptying quickly.

Edgard was not the only one. Authorities contacted the embassies of all stranded passengers. They were given airport meals, toothpaste, and to their surprise, a mosquito net. In four days time, India’s stringent lockdown began. All flights stopped. Edgard’s companions gradually disappeared. Now it was just him.

India allows visa-on-arrival. And this was a crisis time. India’s lockdown couldn’t be Edgard’s fault. He presented his passport at the visa on arrival counter.

‘Sorry Sir,’ the man checked the screen and said, ‘we can’t give you a visa.’

The German embassy had confirmed Edgard was a wanted criminal, with several cases of assault and other crimes against him. The embassy couldn’t take his custody without proper extradition procedures in place. Indian laws prevent giving known foreign criminals a visa. Edgard Zeibat has been a resident of the Delhi airport transit area for more than 50 days now.

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The longest transit lounge stay record belongs to one Mehran Karimi Nasseri. He was an Iranian who said his mother was a British nurse. His briefcase with documents was stolen, and he found himself inside the Charles de Gaulle airport in August 1988. He called himself Sir Alfred, and insisted he should be sent to Britain. He lived in Terminal One for 18 years. A corner with a red bench became his residence. His years were spent in reading newspapers, eating meals given by the airport staff or the passengers. He even studied economics. Mehran Nasseri was the inspiration for Spielberg’s well known film ‘the Terminal’.

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More recently, we have the case of Edward Snowden. In 2013, he spent 39 days at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport transit hall. He ended up taking asylum in Russia, where he still stays.

In the 1990s, when I lived in Russia, I would regularly see Sri Lankan refugees living at the same airport. They arrived on an Aeroflot flight from Colombo, destroyed their documents on the flight, and asked for asylum. The Russian government didn’t entertain these requests, but allowed the transit fliers to reside at the airport for long periods. I have no idea what happened to them in the end.

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Edgard Zeibat’s case is a complicated one. India will not accept him as a refugee. Extradition to Germany requires complex procedures and co-operation from Zeibat. Now that the case is published, India can’t send him to another country. Herr Zeibat seems destined for years of stay at the Delhi airport. It is modern, air-conditioned, with clean showers, a variety of restaurants, TVs, Wifi, and comfortable recliners.

Only if he indulges in criminal activities or falls ill with Covid-19, India will be entitled to do the sensible thing and transfer him to a prison or a hospital.

The story of the no-flyer has only begun.

Ravi