Covid-19 lockdown update: German man who is living at Delhi airport since March 18

A 40 year old German man who has been living in the transit area of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport for the past 54 days due to Covid-19 lockdown and the shutdown of international flights.

The German national, Mr. Edgard Ziebat, who was on his way from Hanoi to Istanbul on March 18, the very day when India cancelled all it’s flights to and from Turkey in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Four days later, India stopped all international flights, and then, on March 25, imposed a national lockdown that is now scheduled to continue till May 17.

While there were other stranded passengers at the airport at the time, what complicated things for Ziebat is that he has a criminal record in his home country, which has refused to take custody of him because he is at a foreign location, India, too did not give him a visa because of his criminal record, the officers added.

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. The Delhi Police and airport operator DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) were also apprised of the situation.

According to a 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.