A Syrian Man Marooned for Months in a Malaysian Airport Has Been Granted Asylum in Canada

Every day for more than eight months, Syrian refugee Hassan Al Kontar has watched dozens of planes take off from Malaysia's international airport without being able to board a flight himself. Al Kontar, 37, fled forced conscription in his war-torn homeland only to wind up stranded in the transit zone of a Kuala Lumpur terminal, unable to enter Malaysia, and rebuffed when he tried reaching Ecuador, then Cambodia.