Just yesterday (12th April), a Syrian man made local and international headlines after his story of being trapped in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) was brought to light.
Hassan Al Kontar, spent the past 37 days stranded in the airport after he was left strapped for cash and was refused entrance into Malaysia by immigration officials.
Documenting his ordeal in a series of videos on his personal Twitter account, Hassan shared his day-to-day life in KLIA2’s arrival hall. Sleeping under stairwells and washing his clothes in the airport bathrooms at night, life has been a struggle for the 36-year-old, who refuses to return to Syria out of fear of being arrested for refusing a call to military service.
He was quoted as saying,
“I don’t want to be part of the fight, I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t want to be killed as well. It’s not my war.”
Now, in light of this issue, the Malaysian Home Ministry has been looking into Hassan’s case and they may have found a solution to his predicament!
According to the Malay Mail Online, the Home Ministry is now considering giving the Syrian national a special pass that will allow him to leave KLIA2 and stay in Malaysia.
Deputy home minister Datuk Seri Nur Jazlan Mohamed addressed the issue today (13th April), which made international headlines, telling reporters,
“He will be most likely placed under the Syrian refugee programme. But before that happens, he will have to go through an extensive security process to ensure that he has no prior problems.”
The deputy minister explained that these checks need to be thorough in order to confirm that refugees have no links to terrorist groups. So, this extensive process could take a significant amount of time.
Currently, Hassan is the only individual that is currently stranded in transit.
We hope the authorities do everything in their power to let Hassan walk out of this airport. We can’t imagine what a tough time it must be for him!
Also read: This Man Has Been Trapped in KLIA2 For the Past 37 Days, Here’s Why