PUTRAJAYA: A Syrian man who made international headlines for squatting at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) arrivals lounge since March 7 this year was deported to a third country for resettlement, yesterday.
Foreign media are reporting that Hassan Al Kontar, 37, was finally granted asylum in Canada and is scheduled to arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia shortly.
In a statement released today, Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said Al Kontar departed KLIA yesterday, escorted by an officer from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
“(Al Kontar had) resided in the country since March 7 and refused to return to his home country.
“The Immigration Department offered him a ‘Special Pass’ to enter (Malaysia, but) he refused it and remained at the airport,” he said.
Mustafar said Al Kontar had used social media to attract the world’s attention and bring pressure to bear on authorities in order that he would be granted asylum in a third country.
“Out of humanitarian concern, the Department held discussions with (Canada’s) embassy, which later agreed to (resettle him),” he added.
According to the BBC, the Canadian Caring Society’s online petition to allow Al Kontar entry to the country garnered 62,000 signatures.
During Al Kontar’s seven-month stay at KLIA, he regularly posted videos to social media platforms highlighting his plight, and lived on food donated by airline staff.
The Dama, Syria, native was working as an insurance marketing manager in the United Arab Emirates when war broke out in his homeland in 2011. His passport expired at about the same time, and he was unable to renew it – forcing him to live illegally in the UAE until 2016.
In 2017, Al Kontar was able to obtain a new passport and headed to Malaysia – one of the few countries which grants Syrians visa-free entry on arrival.