Tom Hanks’ The Terminal becomes reality for German national living in Delhi airport since March 18 | Delhi News

Like Tom Hank’s Viktor Navorski, who got stuck at the JFK airport in the the film ‘The Terminal’, German natio…Read More

In Steven Spielberg‘s 2004 release The Terminal, Tom Hanks‘ character Viktor Navorski gets stuck in New York‘s JFK Airport after his passport becomes invalid due to a civil war in his home country. As a result, he ends up living in the airport’s transit lounge for a year. Something similar has been happening to German national Edgard Ziebat, 40, who has been living in the Delhi international airport since March 18.
Edgar doesn’t have an Indian visa and doesn’t want to go to Germany
Edgar was on his way from Hanoi to Istanbul on March 18, the day India cancelled all flights to and from Turkey due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A few days later, India stopped all international travel and went under lockdown. Our sources tell us that he has visas of multiple countries, but not of India. Therefore, like in the movie, he is “free to remain in the International Arrivals Lounge, but forbidden to step outside.”
An official says, “We thought that we’ll send him to Germany, but the German Embassy refused. He has several criminal cases registered against him in Germany, and hence he didn’t get the permission to return.”
They also tried to send him to Turkey aboard a relief flight, but the Turkish officials wanted to take only their nationals.
Another source says, “There were four-five foreign nationals stranded in the transit area and all of them have been sent to their countries, but this man doesn’t want to go to his country. He gets really angry every time we approach him with the proposal of sending him to Germany. He asks us, ‘Why should I go to Germany? I do not want to go to Germany. I like India, I want to live here (at the airport).'”
According to officials, Edgar had a connecting flight to Georgia from Istanbul and keeps insisting that he should be sent there. “He can only communicate in German and broken English. He keeps asking, ‘If my ticket is for Georgia, I will go to Georgia. Why are you keeping me here? Arrange a flight for me,'” the official adds.
‘He is being allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds’
While in the movie Tom Hank’s character returns luggage trolleys and collects the refund on them to get money for food, Edgar is being provide meals by the airport authorities. A source says, “It is not allowed for any person to stay in the transit area for over 24 hours, but he is being allowed to stay here on humanitarian grounds. He’s getting two meals a day and a mosquito net has also been arranged for him, He sleeps on benches and he just has one bag with him.”
“We confirm that a foreign national is currently in the transit area of the international terminal of Delhi airport due to non-availability of regular flight to transit onwards. Appropriate authorities were informed about this in good time. They are in dialogue with the foreign national,” a spokesperson for Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said.