Africa's answer to "The Terminal" becomes a Briton

[Ebusitanus]

Problem solved, hand out some more passports.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/news...YA-BRITAIN.XML

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The saga of a man who camped out for more than a year at Nairobi airport in an African version of Hollywood hit "The Terminal" ended on Tuesday when he took full British citizenship at a special ceremony.
Like the main character in Tom Hanks's 2004 hit, Sanjai Shah has been sleeping on transit lounge chairs and showering in airport toilets since May last year when he began his protest at being denied entry to the United Kingdom.
But on Tuesday, Shah, 43, went to the British High Commission in Nairobi to attend a "citizenship ceremony" and achieve his long-cherished dream of residency.
"It was a long struggle but patience pays," he told Reuters from his home after the ceremony. "I have the certificate of citizenship now, which means I will get my passport on Tuesday. Then I will fly out on Wednesday."
Shah initially had a British Overseas Citizen passport since he was born in Kenya when it was under colonial rule.
But when he flew to England last year without a return ticket or sufficient funds, he was deported with "prohibited immigrant" stamped in his passport -- negating the document.
By then he had renounced Kenyan citizenship because local law prohibits dual nationality. So, thinking himself in limbo, Shah decided to stay at the airport outside Nairobi.
Diplomats say there was no need for Shah's high-profile protest as he could easily have re-entered Kenya, explained his predicament and applied to them for full citizenship through normal channels. Being in the airport actually complicated and slowed down that procedure, they said.
"I feel so happy to be home with my family again," Shah said. "I can have proper meals again, and sleep on a mattress and have a social life."
In the 2004 film, Hanks's character is stranded in a New York airport after his eastern European homeland erupts into civil war, leaving him stateless, unable to return home but not allowed officially to enter the United States.
It was inspired by the true story of an Iranian-born man who has lived in Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport for 16 years.
One of Shah's priorities now is to see the film for himself.