Between benches and baggage merry-go-rounds, a man has converted Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris into his home for nearly 20 years. Mehran Karimi Naseri, known as Sir Alfred, attracted the attention of travelers and the international press and became a legendary figure in airport common spaces.
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Nasseri’s story began with his search for political asylum in Belgium, but things were complicated by the loss of his refugee documents or his voluntary surrender. His life was already full of trauma. After his father’s death in 1972, he realized he was considered illegitimate and left Iran to study in England. He returned during protests against the Shah, but was arrested by SAVAK, tortured, and stripped of his citizenship.
Belgium granted him refugee status in 1981, but bureaucratic and legal problems led him to France, where he was stranded at the airport in 1988. Without valid documents, he could not leave the country and the state could not deport him. The terminal thus became his only home, with employees and passersby providing him with food and support.
Despite the situation, Naseri maintained discipline and dignity: clean clothes, a trimmed mustache, and an organized bag. His daily routine was strict, with fixed meals, and his fame grew as tourists approached the red bench he called “home.” Filmmakers like Paul Bercheler documented his life, and he worked with news organizations to receive information and even financial assistance.
The legal battle followed his daily routine. His lawyer Christian Bourget fought for years to correct his situation. France found him incapable of deportation but did not issue him with an entry visa, while Belgium made the return of his documents subject to social surveillance. Nasseri rejected any other option than Britain and remained at the airport.
Lord Alfred’s case inspired fictional stories such as The Terminal (2004), directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks. Even after receiving a temporary visa in 1999, he refused to leave the terminal, a shelter built during years of insecurity.
Things only changed in 2006 when health issues forced him to leave the airport for treatment. After that, he lived in a hotel and, from 2007, in a shelter in Paris.
Lord Alfred died on November 12, 2022, at the age of 77, after returning to Charles de Gaulle. There, between the baggage carousel and the red bench, he put an end to a life marked by bureaucracy, resistance and dignity.
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