Liberian stuck in SKorean airport in real-life terminal

Liberian stuck in SKorean airport in real-life version of movie, Terminal


SEOUL, South Korea (news - web sites) (AP) - It's almost like a real-life version of director Steven Spielberg's movie, Terminal.



A man who identified himself as a Liberian national has been stuck at South Korea's main international airport for four months without a passport, airport officials said Wednesday.


The 29-year-old man, who might leave for Liberia (news - web sites) at the end of this month, has been sleeping on a couch, eating meals provided by the airport and taking a shower in a bathroom at Incheon International Airport's detention centre since late May, said two officials who handle immigration affairs. They spoke on condition of anonymity.


His situation is reminiscent of the U.S. movie Terminal, in which Tom Hanks plays a fictional eastern European man stuck at a New York airport after a coup in his country leaves him in bureaucratic limbo.


The movie is loosely based on the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, a stateless man of Iranian descent who was stranded in Paris's Charles De Gaulle Airport for 16 years after he was refused refugee status.


The Liberian arrived in Seoul with a tourist visa last December and worked in South Korea until a government crackdown on illegal migrant workers forced him to leave for Switzerland on May 16.


In Zurich, the Liberian ripped up his passport and sought asylum, saying he feared punishment if he returned to his war-torn, impoverished country, South Korean officials said. But Swiss authorities rejected the request, and sent him back to South Korea under international aviation regulations.


South Korean authorities detained the Liberian in the transit lounge of Incheon airport, along with about 20 illegal aliens who were to be sent back to their countries.


Airport authorities prohibit access to the detention centre, and the Liberian could not be reached for comment.


Incheon airport officials said the Liberian's status is like that of a foreign passenger in transit.


"We couldn't just send him back to Liberia because now he doesn't have a passport," an airport official said. The official said the Liberian government has informed South Korea that it will issue a passport for the man, who wants to stay in South Korea. Liberia does not have an embassy here.


"We'll send the man to Liberia when his new passport is issued at the end of this month," the airport official said.


A local human rights group said the airport should have given the man more comfortable shelter.


"Just because you are providing food for this man, that does not mean you can be excused for neglecting him in a state of confinement for four months without seeking other alternatives," said Choi Eun-mi, a counsellor at the Ansan Migrant Shelter, a non-governmental organization that helps migrant workers.



link : http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1835&ncid=1835&e=5&u=/cpress/20040915/ca_pr_on_od/skorea_stranded_liberian