The Forgotten Man

A Moroccan man who was trying to migrate to Australia through Asia has been lying in a hospital bed for nine years, after having contracted Japanese encephalitis, which resulted in near complete paralysis. The man, 39-year-old Lahcen Ould Lhaj, has lost his passport, and now lives in the Port Moresby hospital in Papua New Guinea. Moroccan internet forums have picked up on the story, and, thanks to them, it appears that Lahcen’s family–who believed him dead–has now been notified. There is also a brief notice in Tel Quel, but as yet no official word from the Ministry in charge of Moroccan immigrants.