A German mother and her daughter have been discovered living at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus for the last 15 months.
They were deported from Israel after their visas expired. It is believed they have relatives in Israel to which they would like to return but their status is not clear.
After arriving in Cyprus in August 2014, the two women are reported to have been sleeping in sleeping bags on the concrete floor of the car park irrespective of cold and hot weather. They have been able to access the restaurant and bathroom in the terminal as well as the shopping there and WiFi.
They are reported to be unwilling to return to Germany, but the German embassy in Nicosia said the woman “has never approached the embassy for assistance”.
Caritas, the Catholic aid agency, also said it not heard of the case even though they have an aid office at the airport.
“Had this been known of course we could have offered them help from health and welfare or help them get a place at the Nicosia women’s shelter,” said a member of Caritas staff. “When we have EU citizens in this situation in Cyprus it is almost always a mental health issue.”
Airport authorities say that after so long it is time for the mother and daughter to get help to move on.
The situation is reminiscent of the film The Terminal based on the real-life case of Marham Karimi Nasser, a refugee from Iran, who lived in the departure lounge at Charles de Gaulle airport for 17 years while there was a lack of agreement in several European countries about documents for him. Eventually he went to live in a homeless shelter in Paris.
