10 ms·

German man living at Delhi airport since March 18

186 points by karambir 6y ago

Matt3o12_ 6y ago
> “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".
- IlyaMoroshkin 6y ago
  He is probably still being paid social welfare by German (taxpayers). It is commonplace in Europe that terrorist suspects are on welfare whilst planning attacks.
  - mulmen 6y ago
    How did we get from “a few cases of assault” to “terrorism”? The fact you use them interchangeably dilutes the meaning of both. Is what you describe of terrorist “suspects” also true of actual terrorists? This sounds like a dog whistle.
    - netsharc 6y ago
      This commenter sounds like one of the people who have a chip in their shoulder about refugees, immigration in general and Muslim minorities..
      - netsharc 6y ago
        Apparently I can't edit downvoted comments? I don't mean mulmen by "commenter", I mean the writer of the dead comment he was replying to (btw you can show flagged comments by enabling "showdead").
        postsantum 6y ago
        Nobody was confused by this. You are just making a similar logical leap along with a personal attack
- a-wu 6y ago
  Couldn’t Germany issue a red notice and have him extradited if they want him so bad?
  - bluGill 6y ago
    They can, but the crimes probably are not big enough to be worth that.
- mirimir 6y ago
  Yeah, that seems odd. But then, I know zero about German law. I suppose that none of the charges against him warrant extradition, so they're cool with him remaining in India. But on the other hand, he has a criminal record, so they don't have to repatriate him.
  - Aeolun 6y ago
    > But on the other hand, he has a criminal record, so they don't have to repatriate him. This is what seems highly unlikely to me. I wonder what is written on this in the German media.
    - Tomte 6y ago
      A short Google (News) search in German turned up nothing.
      - netsharc 6y ago
        Google just recommends me "Ziebart", which is a more common name, I'm wondering if the reporter misspelled his name.
    - maxnoe 6y ago
      German here fomlowing the German media broadly. This is the first I heard of this story.
  - Broken_Hippo 6y ago
    I'm not convinced that is the case. I'm going to guess they can take away his citizenship if he has citizenship elsewhere. I'm not sure they can refuse a citizen without citizenship elsewhere, though. This would leave the dude stateless - and while a few countries do this to their citizens, I'm nearly certain that Germany is not one of them. Every other country - the ones where he is a foreigner - can most certainly refuse his entry, though.
    - eru 6y ago
- gglnx 6y ago
  As a German, I don't know any law that would prohibit that he could return to Germany. The embassies organized the return flights and I read about many complications and fuck-ups, maybe that's what happened. Maybe also he wasn't registered in the "Deutschenliste" (online tool that you register as a German if you travel abroad, so you can be contacted in emergencies). The German embassy in Delhi says on their website (see: https://india.diplo.de/in-de https://india.diplo.de/in-de) that no more German flights are planned, but KLM has some flights, but that must be booked by yourself.
  - vinay427 6y ago
    He's not prohibited from returning for legal reasons. He's prevented at the moment due to an apparent lack of (direct?) flights. This isn't a normal issue with some German citizen stuck abroad who failed to register. As far as I can tell from the article, he was not planning to return to Germany as he is wanted for a crime there, and was on his way to Turkey through India when India-Turkey flights were canceled. I imagine Indian authorities would have to cooperate with the German embassy once a flight that is to their satisfaction is available to put him on the flight.
    - chosenbreed37 6y ago
      > I imagine Indian authorities would have to cooperate with the German embassy once a flight that is to their satisfaction is available to put him on the flight. Can they really compel him to board a flight to Germany against his will? I mean technically he's still in-transit and not actually under Indian jurisdiction...
      - vinay427 6y ago
        (If anyone is familiar with Indian law I would appreciate their input.) Speaking in general terms, based on various other countries limiting or restricting their international transit areas, I believe that in-transit areas (or pre-immigration areas in US airports) are usually not actually outside jurisdiction but are permitted by the host country to be accessible to passengers without immigration/customs processing. Therefore, they're not like international waters or airspace.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 6y ago
  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.
  - Matt3o12_ 6y ago
    There were plenty of flights to Germany at the beginning of the lockdown. They were called rescue flights and I’m sure the German government would have loved to have him on board that flight (so that they can arrest him in Germany). It’s sounded like he wanted to go to another country but couldn’t due to the lack of international flights.
    - KarlKemp 6y ago
      It's a bit confusing, with the article saying international flights are suspended, but Delhi Departure and Bangkok arrival show flights between the two cities: https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/ https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-.... From there, a flight to Frankfurt leaves at 2300. The EU also pooled their repatriation flights. He could have gotten on any French, Italian, Spanish etc. transport, space permitting. There's obviously something wrong with this guy. And if there wasn't before, six weeks at an airport made it happen. He should just go home and for it to be credited as time served.
      - evandijk70 6y ago
        Is it possible that those flights are cargo-only?
      - iso1631 6y ago
        Even if the flights are available to passengers, Thailand does not allow anyone enter the country except for very specific reasons - not even citizens and permanent residents are allowed in As such an airline won't take the passenger https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requirements https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requ...
- goodcanadian 6y ago
  The article is somewhat inconsistent. In one place, it says he has a criminal record; in another, it says he is wanted. I suspect the word "not" got left out as Germany would take him if he was wanted. Also, he wouldn't have visas for several countries as it says in the article. I think he simply doesn't want to go back to Germany and is happy to stay put until he is able to continue his travel on his terms.
  - KarlKemp 6y ago
    There's nothing preventing you from getting several visas for as many countries as you want/can afford. While he is apparently wanted in Germany, a run-of-the-mill assault case doesn't trigger an international arrest warrant, and there's no other system that would share such information with foreign visa offices, except possibly the US. It was shared with India in this case only after he became an "issue". I don't quite understand what the German bureaucracy is supposedly doing differently in this case due to this arrest warrant. I'm somewhat certain that it wouldn't change anything until he sets foot on German ground again. Germany would have both an interest in him returning (for justice, and to prevent any more international embarrassment this guy might provoke), as well as a responsibility to assist him that doesn't just go away if you commit a crime.
    - goodcanadian 6y ago
      Exactly why I suspect he is not wanted, and has declined help from Germany. My speculation only, of course, and almost certainly based on incomplete facts. EDIT: Of course, assuming he is wanted, that would certainly explain why he would decline German help.
foepys 6y ago
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_ 6y ago
  Yup, it's taken some people a month to get back home, and that usually involved negotiations between countries and special flights.
kken 6y ago
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."
supernova87a 6y ago
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 6y ago
  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 6y ago
    > 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 6y ago
      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"
DoreenMichele 6y ago
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.
- Ayesh 6y ago
  Not to compare, but I spent a couple days at an airport stranded, sleeping on my mattress and a sleeping bag. It was fairly comfortable with wifi, toilets, and other basics available at no cost or trouble. It kinda made me realize that it serves the purpose of someone in a situation like that. Lack of sun wore me out with 24/7 artificial lights though.
- kristopolous 6y ago
  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 6y ago
    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."
macewindu 6y ago
Can you imagine if an Indian man behaved the same way at a German airport?
Ayesh 6y ago
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 6y ago
  A few hundred cases and no deaths seems...not likely to be true?
  - tmellon 6y ago
    It's true. See: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-vietnam-quarantine-mobilization/ https://www.thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-vietnam-...
    - skinnymuch 6y ago
      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.
billfruit 6y ago
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.
- devdas 6y ago
  The KLM flight would have landed after the border closure. The presence of Indians on the flight had nothing to do with it.
- squiggleblaz 6y ago
  > 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.
  - gowld 6y ago
    Point is it shows how wrong the original situation was, or vice versa Mathematically, someone can say P, or not-P, or "P and not-P". One of those is most obviously wrong.
  - pimlottc 6y ago
    I think that's their point. It's tantamount to admitting the earlier decision was without basis.
mark_l_watson 6y ago
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 6y ago
  That sounds like any airport then, except they put a 'sleeping lounge' sign up?
  - taejo 6y ago
    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-guide.htm https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/new-delhi-airport-...
Seb-C 6y ago
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 6y ago
  Yeah, I was surprised that the article made a reference to the movie loosely based on Nasseri, but not to the actual story.
pw6hv 6y ago
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 6y ago
  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 6y ago
    It's probably easier to run a JS script to mine crypto than a virtual machine to run a video ad though.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  I can imagine it's a cat-and-mouse game of sorts. Maybe they just say 'play' via Javascript after the video has loaded? It's a JWPlayer video, maybe they have some tricks up their sleeve.
known 6y ago
Red tape is the real reason

186 points by karambir 6y ago

> “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".

IlyaMoroshkin 6y ago
He is probably still being paid social welfare by German (taxpayers). It is commonplace in Europe that terrorist suspects are on welfare whilst planning attacks.
- mulmen 6y ago
  How did we get from “a few cases of assault” to “terrorism”? The fact you use them interchangeably dilutes the meaning of both. Is what you describe of terrorist “suspects” also true of actual terrorists? This sounds like a dog whistle.
  - netsharc 6y ago
    This commenter sounds like one of the people who have a chip in their shoulder about refugees, immigration in general and Muslim minorities..
    - netsharc 6y ago
      Apparently I can't edit downvoted comments? I don't mean mulmen by "commenter", I mean the writer of the dead comment he was replying to (btw you can show flagged comments by enabling "showdead").
      - postsantum 6y ago
        Nobody was confused by this. You are just making a similar logical leap along with a personal attack
a-wu 6y ago
Couldn’t Germany issue a red notice and have him extradited if they want him so bad?
- bluGill 6y ago
  They can, but the crimes probably are not big enough to be worth that.
mirimir 6y ago
Yeah, that seems odd. But then, I know zero about German law. I suppose that none of the charges against him warrant extradition, so they're cool with him remaining in India. But on the other hand, he has a criminal record, so they don't have to repatriate him.
- Aeolun 6y ago
  > But on the other hand, he has a criminal record, so they don't have to repatriate him. This is what seems highly unlikely to me. I wonder what is written on this in the German media.
  - Tomte 6y ago
    A short Google (News) search in German turned up nothing.
    - netsharc 6y ago
      Google just recommends me "Ziebart", which is a more common name, I'm wondering if the reporter misspelled his name.
  - maxnoe 6y ago
    German here fomlowing the German media broadly. This is the first I heard of this story.
- Broken_Hippo 6y ago
  I'm not convinced that is the case. I'm going to guess they can take away his citizenship if he has citizenship elsewhere. I'm not sure they can refuse a citizen without citizenship elsewhere, though. This would leave the dude stateless - and while a few countries do this to their citizens, I'm nearly certain that Germany is not one of them. Every other country - the ones where he is a foreigner - can most certainly refuse his entry, though.
  - eru 6y ago
gglnx 6y ago
As a German, I don't know any law that would prohibit that he could return to Germany. The embassies organized the return flights and I read about many complications and fuck-ups, maybe that's what happened. Maybe also he wasn't registered in the "Deutschenliste" (online tool that you register as a German if you travel abroad, so you can be contacted in emergencies). The German embassy in Delhi says on their website (see: https://india.diplo.de/in-de https://india.diplo.de/in-de) that no more German flights are planned, but KLM has some flights, but that must be booked by yourself.
- vinay427 6y ago
  He's not prohibited from returning for legal reasons. He's prevented at the moment due to an apparent lack of (direct?) flights. This isn't a normal issue with some German citizen stuck abroad who failed to register. As far as I can tell from the article, he was not planning to return to Germany as he is wanted for a crime there, and was on his way to Turkey through India when India-Turkey flights were canceled. I imagine Indian authorities would have to cooperate with the German embassy once a flight that is to their satisfaction is available to put him on the flight.
  - chosenbreed37 6y ago
    > I imagine Indian authorities would have to cooperate with the German embassy once a flight that is to their satisfaction is available to put him on the flight. Can they really compel him to board a flight to Germany against his will? I mean technically he's still in-transit and not actually under Indian jurisdiction...
    - vinay427 6y ago
      (If anyone is familiar with Indian law I would appreciate their input.) Speaking in general terms, based on various other countries limiting or restricting their international transit areas, I believe that in-transit areas (or pre-immigration areas in US airports) are usually not actually outside jurisdiction but are permitted by the host country to be accessible to passengers without immigration/customs processing. Therefore, they're not like international waters or airspace.
9nGQluzmnq3M 6y ago
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.
- Matt3o12_ 6y ago
  There were plenty of flights to Germany at the beginning of the lockdown. They were called rescue flights and I’m sure the German government would have loved to have him on board that flight (so that they can arrest him in Germany). It’s sounded like he wanted to go to another country but couldn’t due to the lack of international flights.
  - KarlKemp 6y ago
    It's a bit confusing, with the article saying international flights are suspended, but Delhi Departure and Bangkok arrival show flights between the two cities: https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/ https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-.... From there, a flight to Frankfurt leaves at 2300. The EU also pooled their repatriation flights. He could have gotten on any French, Italian, Spanish etc. transport, space permitting. There's obviously something wrong with this guy. And if there wasn't before, six weeks at an airport made it happen. He should just go home and for it to be credited as time served.
    - evandijk70 6y ago
      Is it possible that those flights are cargo-only?
    - iso1631 6y ago
      Even if the flights are available to passengers, Thailand does not allow anyone enter the country except for very specific reasons - not even citizens and permanent residents are allowed in As such an airline won't take the passenger https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requirements https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requ...
goodcanadian 6y ago
The article is somewhat inconsistent. In one place, it says he has a criminal record; in another, it says he is wanted. I suspect the word "not" got left out as Germany would take him if he was wanted. Also, he wouldn't have visas for several countries as it says in the article. I think he simply doesn't want to go back to Germany and is happy to stay put until he is able to continue his travel on his terms.
- KarlKemp 6y ago
  There's nothing preventing you from getting several visas for as many countries as you want/can afford. While he is apparently wanted in Germany, a run-of-the-mill assault case doesn't trigger an international arrest warrant, and there's no other system that would share such information with foreign visa offices, except possibly the US. It was shared with India in this case only after he became an "issue". I don't quite understand what the German bureaucracy is supposedly doing differently in this case due to this arrest warrant. I'm somewhat certain that it wouldn't change anything until he sets foot on German ground again. Germany would have both an interest in him returning (for justice, and to prevent any more international embarrassment this guy might provoke), as well as a responsibility to assist him that doesn't just go away if you commit a crime.
  - goodcanadian 6y ago
    Exactly why I suspect he is not wanted, and has declined help from Germany. My speculation only, of course, and almost certainly based on incomplete facts. EDIT: Of course, assuming he is wanted, that would certainly explain why he would decline German help.

foepys 6y ago

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_ 6y ago
Yup, it's taken some people a month to get back home, and that usually involved negotiations between countries and special flights.

kken 6y ago

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."

supernova87a 6y ago

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 6y ago
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 6y ago
  > 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 6y ago
    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"

DoreenMichele 6y ago

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.

Ayesh 6y ago
Not to compare, but I spent a couple days at an airport stranded, sleeping on my mattress and a sleeping bag. It was fairly comfortable with wifi, toilets, and other basics available at no cost or trouble. It kinda made me realize that it serves the purpose of someone in a situation like that. Lack of sun wore me out with 24/7 artificial lights though.
kristopolous 6y ago
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 6y ago
  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."

macewindu 6y ago

Can you imagine if an Indian man behaved the same way at a German airport?

Ayesh 6y ago

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 6y ago
A few hundred cases and no deaths seems...not likely to be true?
- tmellon 6y ago
  It's true. See: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-vietnam-quarantine-mobilization/ https://www.thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-vietnam-...
  - skinnymuch 6y ago
    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.

billfruit 6y ago

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.

devdas 6y ago
The KLM flight would have landed after the border closure. The presence of Indians on the flight had nothing to do with it.
squiggleblaz 6y ago
> 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.
- gowld 6y ago
  Point is it shows how wrong the original situation was, or vice versa Mathematically, someone can say P, or not-P, or "P and not-P". One of those is most obviously wrong.
- pimlottc 6y ago
  I think that's their point. It's tantamount to admitting the earlier decision was without basis.

mark_l_watson 6y ago

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 6y ago
That sounds like any airport then, except they put a 'sleeping lounge' sign up?
- taejo 6y ago
  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-guide.htm https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/new-delhi-airport-...

Seb-C 6y ago

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 6y ago
Yeah, I was surprised that the article made a reference to the movie loosely based on Nasseri, but not to the actual story.

pw6hv 6y ago

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 6y ago
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 6y ago
  It's probably easier to run a JS script to mine crypto than a virtual machine to run a video ad though.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
I can imagine it's a cat-and-mouse game of sorts. Maybe they just say 'play' via Javascript after the video has loaded? It's a JWPlayer video, maybe they have some tricks up their sleeve.

known 6y ago

Red tape is the real reason