7 most famous airport residents

While Edward Snowden, who has recently become the main news on both sides of the ocean, languishes in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, we decided to recall seven more cases when people stayed at the airport for more than a week.

(Total 7 photos)

1. Mehran Karimi Nasseri, also known as Sir Albert.

This is perhaps the most famous and longest case of airport stay. It was he who inspired Steven Spielberg to create the film "Terminal". This Iranian refugee lived in the terminal of Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris for almost 18 years: from August 26, 1988 to July 2006. Mehran Nasseri was expelled from Iran for participating in protests and, having received the status of a political refugee in the UN Refugee Commission, decided to go to the UK for further residence. However, in Paris, on the way to London, his documents were stolen from him, so when he tried to go through passport control in London, he was sent back to Charles de Gaulle Airport, where he spent the next 18 years. In 2006, he was hospitalized due to an unspecified illness. By the end of January 2007, he left the hospital, and for several weeks lived in a hotel near the airport, and was later sent to one of the Parisian shelters for the homeless.

2. Sanjay Shah.

This Kenyan citizen, with a British Overseas Territories Citizenship Passport allowing temporary stay but not immigration, decided to move to the UK itself for permanent residence. But, having received a refusal from the British immigration service, he was sent back to Nairobi airport, where he spent more than a year - from May 2004 to July 2005 - protesting against the "injustice" surrounding him. Unlike the other heroes on this list, Sanjay remained at the airport voluntarily despite not being denied entry to Kenya. As a result, he achieved his goal by obtaining citizenship and a British passport, as well as a ticket to his new homeland.

3. Zahra Kamalfar, another Iranian refugee on our list.

Zahra lived with her two children for ten months in the terminal of the Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport - from May 2006 to March 14, 2007. She and her husband were arrested in July 2004 for participating in human rights protests in Tehran. In April 2005, Zahra was released by the authorities for two days to live with her children, at the same time her husband was executed. Fearing the same fate after returning to prison, she decided to flee with her children to Canada, where her brother had been living for 8 years. Daughter Anya at that time was 17, son Davud was 10. From Turkey, through Sheremetyevo, the family flew to Germany on fake documents, from where Zahra planned to seek political asylum in Canada. However, the German authorities discovered the fake and returned the family to the airport of departure, Sheremetyevo. In Moscow, in the deportation center, in a hotel near Sheremetyevo, the Kamalfar family lived for about a year. After the center closed in May 2006, the Russian authorities moved the family to the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport where, on a concrete floor, they lived for another ten months. In November 2006, the Russian authorities planned to deport her back to Iran, but Zahra cut her veins and Ana swallowed pills, and the deportation was stopped. As a result, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees finally granted them refugee status, and on March 14, 2007, the family flew to Canada.

4. Hiroshi Nahara, the most mysterious case on our list.

This Japanese flew to the capital of Mexico - Mexico City - September 2, 2008 on a tourist visa. And for unknown reasons, he remained in terminal 1 of the Benito Juarez airport until December 28, 2008, during which time he became a real local celebrity. Then, just as mysteriously, for unknown reasons, he left the airport after a certain woman known as Oyuki, who invited him to her home.

5. Feng Zhengu.

Spent almost 3 months (November 9, 2009 to February 3, 2010) at Tokyo Narita International Airport protesting the ban on returning to China, of which he was a citizen. The ban was prompted by his human rights activities and criticism of the government, which led to his arrest and charges of running an illegal business. At the Feng airport, Zhengu was visited by several Chinese diplomats, who persuaded him to enter Japan on the condition that he could return to Shanghai before mid-February. Which he did, ending up, however, subsequently under house arrest.

6. Briton Harry Peter Austin.

He missed his flight and was stuck at Philippine International Airport for 23 days because he had no money for a new ticket. Here Harry had to celebrate Christmas and New Year - the period of his stay at the airport - from December 19, 2012 to January 11, 2013. As a result, fate nevertheless gave the unlucky traveler a New Year's gift in the form of a ticket home, paid for by kind people.

7. Heinz Müller, German citizen.

The 46-year-old former pilot flew to Rio de Janeiro to meet his beloved, whom he met on the Internet. Unfortunately, the beloved did not appear at the airport, and the unfortunate lover quickly ran out of money. For reasons that are not entirely clear, he ended his trip to Brazil at Campinas Airport, where he spent 13 days in October 2009, from where he was taken to the hospital for a psychological examination.