{"id":3416,"date":"2014-10-04T19:13:21","date_gmt":"2014-10-04T19:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=3416"},"modified":"2014-10-04T19:13:21","modified_gmt":"2014-10-04T19:13:21","slug":"man-from-liberia-has-made-naia-terminal-home-for-4-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=3416","title":{"rendered":"Man from Liberia has made NAIA terminal home for 4 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a story very similar to the movie “Terminal” where Tom Hanks played the starring role. But there is a big difference. It is actually happening in the Philippines. <\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

MANILA, Philippines<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong>\u2014 For more than four months now, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 has been home for Liberian nurse Henry Lewis<\/strong>. Unlike other foreign travellers well-dressed for their flights, Lewis sits in a monobloc chair by the door bearing the signage \u201cexclusion room.\u201d He wears casual outfit \u2014 a t-shirt, shorts and slippers.<\/p>\n

The door is the only spot where his phone can get the airport\u2019s Wi-Fi signal. The exclusion room is a nine-door area designated by the Bureau of Immigration for passengers who have been denied entry to the Philippines for various reasons.<\/p>\n

But Lewis was not the usual \u201cexcluded\u201d passenger because he has been practically living in NAIA 3 since June 2, 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t feel like a prisoner here. I have Wi-Fi. I can communicate with friends and family,\u201d Lewis, 28, who is a nurse in his home country Liberia, a country in West Africa, which has been battling against the biggest Ebola outbreak in recent history.<\/p>\n

Food and personal needs provided<\/p>\n

Lewis, however, cannot freely roam around the terminal without airport security personnel in tow. His food and personal needs are brought by the personnel of the Manila International Airport Authority and the air carrier who flew him to the country.<\/p>\n

Lewis was a tourist in the Philippines for a year before he flew to South Korea on May 31, 2014 via Air Asia Zest, Mary Ann Velasco, head of the Bureau of Immigration team at the NAIA 3 said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in South Korea, he was denied entry for a reason we weren\u2019t told,\u201d Velasco said. It seems that Lewis has an immigration record in South Korea, thus making him not wanted in that country.<\/p>\n

As a standard procedure, Lewis would have been brought back to his point of origin and a one-way flight to his home country would have to be arranged, the immigration official said. He was flown by AirAsia Zest back to Manila, two days after on June 2. He could not leave the airport, however, since he was also put in the Immigration’s blacklist.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has no criminal record, but he has no money nor legitimate sponsor for him to afford his stay in the country,\u201d Velasco said. \u201cIf we allowed his return to the country, he\u2019d be just a burden,\u201d she added. Nonetheless, the Liberian man\u2019s food and basic needs have been shouldered by the airline for four months now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we allowed his return to the country, he\u2019d be just a burden,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the Liberian man\u2019s food and basic needs have been shouldered by the airline for four months now.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor humanitarian reason, we have been taking care of his needs,\u201d Jenny Tan, spokesperson of the budget carrier AirAsia Zest.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut just to be clear, we give him food and whatever he needs daily. No cash. But we are willing to pay for his ticket (back to his country),\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n

The company is wondering why other airlines with flights to Liberia have refused to take him on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the airlines we had asked to bring him home declined. We were not told of the reason,\u201d Tan said. AirAsia Zest has no direct flights to Liberia. But Tan said the airline and airport staff have been good to the passenger because \u201che seems kind and friendly.\u201d \u201cHe has befriended our staff. It\u2019s funny how it is so similar to the movie \u2018Terminal\u2019,\u201d Tan quipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are asking for the help of the Liberian Embassy in Manila. We have sent an email but there is still no reply,\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n

The African man\u2019s only hope is to be given a plane ticket home and be allowed to board the next plane. \u201cI just want to get my passport and go home. I have done nothing wrong,\u201d Lewis said. (Inq.net)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a story very similar to the movie “Terminal” where Tom Hanks played the starring role. But there is a big difference. It is actually happening in the Philippines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,77],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}