
German man living at Delhi airport since March 18 - karambir
https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/german-man-living-at-delhi-airport-since-mar-18/story-VIJm8lsHTNxaws4mo99YDN.html
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Matt3o12_
> “While others were facilitated by their embassies concerned and were taken
> for quarantine, officials from the German embassy informed the Indian bureau
> of immigration that Ziebat is a wanted criminal in their country with
> several cases of assault and other crimes registered against him. Since he
> was on a foreign land, they did not take his custody."

This sounds highly suspicious to me. If he is a wanted criminal, I would
imagine the German government is especially keen to take him home so that he
can be held responsible for his crimes. It sounds to me like he doesn't want
to leave for Germany and they can't make him board a "rescue flight".

~~~
9nGQluzmnq3M
Germany would be happy to have him board a flight to Germany, where he would
be arrested on arrival, the problem is that there are (now) no flights at all.
India is unwilling to let a convicted criminal in the country, but he has
committed no crimes on Indian soil, so they're not arresting him. In a
scenario like this there's very little the German embassy can do, it's not
like they have their own private jail ready.

At this point, the guy is probably best off just waiting it out in the transit
area, and getting a flight out to Turkey or wherever when they resume.

~~~
theklub
At what point does living in a airport become a crime?

~~~
dijit
If the airport were to "close to the public" for any reason he could be
considered as a Trespasser.

Heathrow (for example)[0] has a problem with homeless people sleeping there,
if they're warned by security staff and found again then they're considered
trespassers, and trespass is illegal.

[0]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdAVn5JWkhs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdAVn5JWkhs)

------
Ayesh
I'm currently stranded in Vietnam (country, not inside the airport).

I imagine there are many people just like me. I happen to be quite lucky
because in a country of 100 million, there are zero deaths and fewer than 300
cases, most of which are treated. Lots of things are open now and there are no
strict social distancing laws anymore.

It all comes down to how much money you have saved and how long you can
stretch it.

This article mentions one Sri Lankan passenger being taken home. I'm a Sri
Lankan citizen although I no longer live there. Sri Lanka had its borders
closed from March 22, but arranged flights to bring back citizens from
situations like this. I can imagine Germany did the same.

It looks like this man just didn't want to leave. An airport with wifi, some
shops, bathrooms and electricity, combined with the staff being kind enough to
provide him with a recliner and amenities sounds much better than going to a
place that he'd be eventually in trouble for his past crimes. If anything, the
German consulate should forcefully take him if his criminal records are that
severe, but it's their job and these are strange times to begin with.

~~~
skinnymuch
A few hundred cases and no deaths seems...not likely to be true?

~~~
tmellon
It's true. See: [https://www.thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-
vietnam-...](https://www.thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-vietnam-
quarantine-mobilization/)

~~~
skinnymuch
I'm having a hard time believing the numbers given out. So those sorts of
articles won't do me much good. I'm having trouble believing almost if not all
countries numbers. So this isn't specific to Vietnam disbelief.

------
DoreenMichele
As someone who spent years homeless, this is sort of a hoot:

 _According to the second airport official, Ziebat has mostly spent the last
54 days reading magazines and newspapers, talking to his friends and family
over the phone, eating at some of the fast food outlets still in operation
within the terminal, interacting with housekeeping and security staff, taking
walks within the transit area, and using the airport’s washrooms and toilets.
Authorities also provided him with a recliner, mosquito net, toothpaste, food
and other basic essentials.

“He told officials that he can manage his expenses. He sleeps on the beds,
benches, on the floors, wherever he feels like. He is alone in the transit
area as it is not being used because the airport is closed for passengers,”
said the second officer._

Gosh, I wish my life had been that good when everything went completely to
hell. Sounds fairly cushy to me.

~~~
kristopolous
I was wondering if he could get access to the executive lounges. I'd work hard
to find a connection to get in one. Some have hot showers

~~~
DoreenMichele
That's good information. I hope he is getting access to hot showers. I think
that's a reasonable request and can be justified on the basis of "there's a
pandemic on and it's important germ control."

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supernova87a
You read these headline grabbing stories, also like the one about the couple
stranded in Tahiti during this virus, or the original actual guy behind "The
Terminal" movie -- and you usually find out that the story is almost always
one of bad judgement combined with somewhat unusual circumstances that they
aren't trying to avoid like a normal person would.

Sometimes the news tries to make it seem like they were unwitting victims who
slipped through the cracks and are lost in the system. But no, they're
actively acting pretty dumb too. Not much life lesson to be learned from these
cases, just spectator sport.

This guy is wanted for assault, was in Vietnam, hmm? He'd be lucky if anyone
wanted to make a movie out of it.

~~~
DoreenMichele
Once you get behind the eight ball for some reason, it can be impossible to
get out. I don't know how to get out from behind the eight ball in my own life
and I think I'm well educated, talented, virtuous and blah blah blah. It's
never enough and I'm not some kind of criminal or something.

You don't know the story. Maybe it was self defense. We don't have all the
details.

It would be nice if, during a global pandemic, we could not sit around being
all judgy going "People fucked over as a consequence of this here global
pandemic were just being idiots!"

~~~
techsupporter
> It would be nice if, during a global pandemic, we could not sit around being
> all judgy going "People fucked over as a consequence of this here global
> pandemic were just being idiots!"

Wholeheartedly agree. Humans of all stripes seem to have this need to place
blame on others' failings on the person being "at fault" yet somehow their own
mishaps are "bad luck." It's like the comment threads underneath lapses in
security or getting phished. "Oh well, IIiiiiii wouldn't have fallen for
that," until they inevitably do.

If humans were always perfectly capable of never screwing up, the entire
liability insurance market would cease to exist.

~~~
DoreenMichele
_If humans were always perfectly capable of never screwing up, the entire
liability insurance market would cease to exist._

Oh, it gets so much worse than that. If you are the "wrong kind of person" for
some reason, misfortune comes at a much higher cost than for other people. In
the US, white people generally suffer lighter consequences than people of
color for the same mistakes. Men are generally judged less harshly than women
for various things. Etc.

So it's more like saying "You fool! You shouldn't have done X! And, also, if
you had any sense, you would have been born a different color/different
gender/richer...etc"

~~~
TheAdamAndChe
> "You fool! ...you [should] have been born a different color/different
> gender/richer...etc

Do you actually know someone in person who has said this in response to
someone else's misfortune? Or are you just using the image of some random
person saying this to fuel an anti-white man sentiment?

~~~
DoreenMichele
What I'm saying is that in many cases, telling someone you just should have
done it differently boils down to dismissing the very real impact their
race/gender/sexual orientation/whatever has on their life.

This is why we have terms like "Mansplaining" or "Whitesplaining." That
doesn't mean a man or a white person simply acting like you are stupid and
need it explained like you are five and then everything will work. It means
that in the context of someone who is completely oblivious to the reality that
when women do things exactly like men, they get different results socially and
when people of color do things exactly like whites, they also get different
results.

When two black men were arrested in Starbucks in Philadelphia for sitting
there without ordering and asking to be let into the bathroom because they
were waiting for someone they were meeting, one of the reasons it was
controversial is because of the white patrons who protested it on the basis of
"I've sat in here before without ordering and used the bathroom and no one
ever called the cops on me."

I have zero interest in fueling anti-white man sentiment. That's absolutely
not my agenda. But racism, sexism, etc are very much alive and well.
Pretending they aren't is being part of the problem, not part of the solution.

~~~
TheAdamAndChe
> telling someone you just should have done it differently boils down to
> dismissing the very real impact their race/gender/sexual
> orientation/whatever has on their life.

Race and gender may still play a role, but acting like it is the determining
factor in one's life is too much. People have agency over their lives, and can
make choices to make their situations better. The fact that someone is white
or male does not negate this. I live in rural Missouri, and there are plenty
of white people who make bad decisions and hurt their prospects in the
process.

Also, "whitesplaining" and "mansplaining" are really incredibly racist and
sexist. You should really consider using other terms.

~~~
moises_silva
> but acting like it is the determining factor in one's life is too much

I did not read that at all. This is the key message IMHO:

> If you are the "wrong kind of person" for some reason, misfortune comes at a
> much higher cost than for other people. In the US, white people generally
> suffer lighter consequences than people of color for the same mistakes. Men
> are generally judged less harshly than women for various things. Etc.

More eloquently explained here: [https://www.quora.com/Is-life-easier-as-a-
white-person/answe...](https://www.quora.com/Is-life-easier-as-a-white-
person/answer/Peter-Kruger)

Keyword: "easier"

No one is saying they don't have agency, but sometimes, having a headstart is
all it takes for a big difference in results over the years, not to mention if
that advantage doesn't go away your whole life.

Perhaps beside the point, but also some people do not believe in 'agency' or
'free will' as such, myself included. I consider myself privileged, and I'm
not white.

> Also, "whitesplaining" and "mansplaining" are really incredibly racist and
> sexist. You should really consider using other terms.

That we agree on.

------
kken
This is the real reason he is stuck.

> "He added that because India did not give Ziebat a visa due to his criminal
> background — criminal offences are taken into consideration when assessing
> individual visa cases in India — he remains unauthorised to leave the
> airport’s transit area. In India, an international passenger can normally
> stay in transit for just one day, and requires Indian visa to step out of
> this designated space for travellers passing through the country. The
> officer added that Ziebat has also not formally applied for an Indian visa."

------
billfruit
Thousands if not more Indians have been stranded all over, as government
suddenly closed entry to their own citizens. Even incidents like a KLM flight
being not allowed to land in Delhi because it had Indians on board. Much
confusing instructions from the government to airlines. Passengers from Europe
were banned, but the confusing instructions meant that passengers transiting
through Europe also were banned. Then seemingly without material change in
situation, now the Government is allowing flights back to India.

Also these flights are being operated at full capacity, no social distancing.
People have to pay for seats beforehand too, while other countries like US
only requires an indemnity bond for future payment for evacuation flights.

~~~
squiggleblaz
> Then seemingly without material change in situation, now the Government is
> allowing flights back to India.

Well if a rule was unreasonably harsh you hardly need a material change in the
situation to change it, do you? You can't complain that they weren't letting
Indians into India, and then complain that they suddenly started to let
Indians back into India.

~~~
pimlottc
I think that's their point. It's tantamount to admitting the earlier decision
was without basis.

------
foepys
I dont know if it's still the case but in Frankfurt some people were also
stuck in transit for weeks. Their counties couldn't take them back because
they weren't able to organize flights.

~~~
Cthulhu_
Yup, it's taken some people a month to get back home, and that usually
involved negotiations between countries and special flights.

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Seb-C
I actually read `March 2018` at first. This is not as scary as the story of Mr
Mehran Karimi Nasseri (guy who spent 18 years stuck in an airport).

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM4ZpJOAY4k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM4ZpJOAY4k)

~~~
ThinkingGuy
Yeah, I was surprised that the article made a reference to the movie loosely
based on Nasseri, but not to the actual story.

------
pw6hv
Not related to the topic: I have Firefox set to block autoplay, nevertheless
the video in the middle of this article just play when I scroll down. Is it
happening to someone else? How can websites bypass Firefox configuration?

~~~
gowld
JavaScript. Web browser controls only work if the page uses the standard APIs.

Much of the reason browser's don't block simple things is that advertisers
will happily write a memory-hogging CPU-hogging virtual machine to force the
feature to run anyway. You can't win by trying to control what hostile code
does after you let it run. Block untrusted domains from running code on your
machine.

~~~
mratsim
It's probably easier to run a JS script to mine crypto than a virtual machine
to run a video ad though.

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mark_l_watson
If he has to be stuck in an airport, the Delhi airport is a good choice. They
have sleeping lounges (at least they did when I was their in 2001) where you
can sleep, although with zero privacy.

~~~
OJFord
That sounds like any airport then, except they put a 'sleeping lounge' sign
up?

~~~
taejo
Many airports nowadays seem to be deliberately hostile to sleepy travellers,
most commonly by having armrests between all seats so you can't lie down
across several, but sometimes even by having staff come around and wake up
sleeping travellers on a regular basis. _The Guide to Sleeping in Airports_
exists for a reason, and it rates New Delhi highly:
[https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/new-delhi-
airport-...](https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/new-delhi-airport-
guide.htm)

------
known
Red tape is the real reason

