For the majority of us, an airport is nothing more than a place to wait for a journey to begin. But for some, an airport has become a home. In a perfect storm of unlucky events, Mehran Karimi Nasseri found himself stranded at the Charles de Gaulle airport in France for more than 17 long years.

In 1977, Mehran was stripped of his passport and kicked out of his home country of Iran for protesting against the government. He fled to Europe, seeking asylum in several countries. In 1981, he was given refugee status in Belgium, but his briefcase carrying proof of his status was stolen in a Paris train station.