A 20-year-old Sudanese man named Amir has been trapped in the transit zone of Almaty International Airport after a failed attempt to fly to Rwanda, according to the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights (KIBHR). His ordeal mirrors the plot of «The Terminal,» the 2004 film starring Tom Hanks as a man stranded in an airport due to geopolitical complications.
Amir arrived in Almaty in 2023 to study at a university. But soon after, conflict erupted in Sudan between government forces and armed groups. The capital city of Khartoum, Amir’s hometown, fell to militants. His house was destroyed and his parents became internally displaced refugees. With no financial support left for his education, and Sudan’s airports shut down, returning home was not an option.
Amir applied for refugee status in Kazakhstan but was denied. A court ordered him to leave the country by May 1. He managed to raise money for a ticket to Rwanda, but his documents were rejected upon arrival and he was deported — first to Qatar, then back to Almaty.
Upon his return, Amir was met at the airport and a ticket was purchased for a flight to Doha. However, Qatar Airways refused to let him reenter the country. He has faced the possibility of being stranded in the airport’s transit zone indefinitely, a situation that has affected other travelers in similar legal limbo.
The press office at Almaty International Airport declined to comment, directing all inquiries to Qatar Airways.
According to a May 4 update from the KIBHR, Amir’s situation has been conditionally resolved. He was not deported to Sudan and was instead allowed to travel to another country that permits visa-free entry for Sudanese citizens.
