Stranded Syrian man in airport saga leaves for Canada

KUALA LUMPUR: A Syrian refugee who spent several months in limbo in a budget terminal at a Malaysian airport has been granted permanent residency by Canada and is en route to Vancouver, his lawyer said yesterday.

Hassan al-Kontar’s plight became widely known after he shared posts on social media that showed him surviving on donated airline meals, washing and giving himself a haircut in the toilets at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Terminal 2.

He had been stuck since March — blocked from entering Malaysia because of visa issues and barred from travelling to other countries, and was detained last month by immigration officials.

“I know I look like someone who ran from the stone, middle ages. I’m sorry for that,” the smiling 36-year-old said in a Twitter video on Monday, looking tired and stroking his bushy beard.

“For the last eight years, it was a hard, long journey. The last ten months, it was very hard and cold.”

Malaysian officials earlier said they were going to work with Syrian authorities to deport him back to his war-torn homeland.

But his lawyer Andrew Brouwer said they brought Mr Kontar directly to Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday before he was put on a Vancouver-bound flight.

Mr Brouwer said his client was recognised by Canada as a refugee and was granted permanent residency under the country’s refugee sponsorship programme.

“We were of course very pleased that Malaysia appeared to agree and abide by international law,” he said.

In the video on his Twitter account Mr Kontar said he was in transit in Taiwan and that he would be reaching his “final destination” the following day.

Mr Kontar’s case also recalls the 2004 film The Terminal, in which Tom Hanks plays a man who finds himself stuck in a New York airport after his government collapses, rendering his papers useless.