Al Kontar was born in Al-Suweida, Syria to a Druze family. He has two siblings; his father was a mechanical engineer and his mother, a nurse. He originally emigrated from Syria to the United Arab Emirates in 2006, to work as an insurance marketing agent. His work permit expired in 2011, the year the Syrian Civil War started. After the Syrian embassy refused to renew his passport, Al Kontar stayed illegally in the UAE fearing he would be drafted into the war on his return. In 2017, he was arrested and deported to Malaysia, one of the countries where Syrians are granted visa-free entry. He attempted to go to Ecuador but, for unexplained reasons, Turkish Airlines staff denied him boarding for his flight nor would they refund his ticket. He then attempted to go to Cambodia but was denied entry, and sent back to Kuala Lumpur. As his Malaysian tourist visa had expired, he was not allowed to enter the country and remained stranded at the airport in "legal limbo". Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and he claimed that he would not be recognized as a legitimate refugee although there are in fact many Syrian refugees in the country.
Life at the airport
Al Kontar slept on chairs or under a stairwell, showered in a disabled toilet and was fed by some airport staff who gave him meals. Though his savings dwindled, people offered him money and a woman living in British Columbia started a fundraiser in order to possibly sponsor him to Canada and have enough money to live for at least a year. He has family members in Canada. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been trying to provide legal aid. During his 100th day at the airport in June 2018, he jokingly decided to apply to join a NASAmission to Mars, saying that if he actually had the opportunity to leave Earth and the worst parts of humanity, he would. On 1 October 2018, he was detained by the police for being in a "forbidden area" of the airport. Malaysia's immigration chief, Mustafar Ali, said they would "communicate with the Syrian embassy to facilitate deportation to his home country." However, Malaysian immigration director-general Mustafar Ali announced that Al Kontar would be sent to an undisclosed third country as the discussion and arrangement is being processed together with the foreign mission in Malaysia. Al Kontar was held in a detention facility for 58 days before the Canadian asylum application was expedited for him.
Asylum in Canada
On 26 November 2018, Al Kontar landed at Vancouver International Airport as a permanent resident of Canada and is expected to start a job in Whistler, British Columbia. Al Kontar had been privately sponsored for asylum in Canada; he lives with the family of one of his sponsors, media relations consultant Laurie Cooper. Cooper has helped over 30 refugees settle in Canada. Al Kontar currently speaks at events about human rights and works at a restaurant. As of August 2019, Al Kontar is currently organizing a refugee resettlement program called Operation Not Forgotten, sponsored by the Refugee Council of Australia and Amnesty International, which they plan to raise a total of C$3.3 million to resettle refugees stranded in Nauru and Manus Island into Canada. These refugees are from countries including Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Iraq, while some are stateless.
