Expertise in
- Resilience & Adversity
Speaker Types
- Conference Keynote
- Education & Teachers
- Finance & Insurance
- Inspirational
- Motivation
- Racial Justice
- Social Justice & Human Rights
HASSAN AL KONTAR BIOGRAPHY
Hassan Al Kontar is a Syrian refugee who was stranded at Kuala Lumpur International Airport from 7 March 2018 until his arrest on 1 October 2018. Hassan Al Kontar is in exile of Syria since 2011, because he refuses to join the Syrian military and could face arrest if returned there. His plight has been compared to Tom Hanks’s character in the film The Terminal (who in turn was inspired by the real-life story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri who lived at France’s Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years). According to CNN’s Becky Anderson, his situation is not “unprecedented” and could become a more common problem for Syrian refugees because many countries will not accept Syrian nationals.
Hassan Al Kontar was born in Al-Suweida, Syria to a Druze family. 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, Hassan Al Kontar was arrested and deported to Malaysia, one of the countries where Syrians are granted visa-free entry. Hassan Al Kontar 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”.
There was some discussion of the Malaysian government offering him re-entry into the country but, with no formal offer, Al Kontar was advised not to because he was waiting for an offer for Canada, the United Kingdom, or France (as implied by one of his Twitter posts). 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.
In 2018, Hassan Al Kontar landed at Vancouver International Airport as a permanent resident of Canada and is expected to start a job in Whistler, British Columbia. Hassan Al Kontar had been privately sponsored for asylum in Canada; Hassan Al Kontar 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. Hassan Al Kontar is currently organizing a refugee resettlement program called Operation Not Forgotten, which they plan to raise a total of $3.3 million to resettle refugees stranded in Nauru and Manus Island into Canada. The refugees are from countries including Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Iraq while some are stateless.
Having spent eight years of his working life in marketing roles, Hassan Al Kontar has a gift for sharing a compelling story with a broad audience. Hassan is committed to advocating for refugees around the world using the creative, upbeat approach that made him beloved by hundreds of thousands of people. Hassan Al Kontar is driven by a single goal; to do his part in making the world a better place for all.
Man @The Airport - One Man's Story - A Nation's Tragedy
Syrian refugee Hassan Al Kontar became a media sensation last year after he found himself living in the arrivals terminal of a Malaysian airport. Al Kontar quickly realized that his situation was not because of who he was personally; it was because he carried a Syrian passport. Al Kontar spent 7 months at the airport and 2 months in detention before finally being allowed to come to Canada in November 2018. In this presentation, Al Kontar will talk about what he learned as a result of his experience, the plight of refugees around the world, and how individual Canadians can make a difference.
- Keynote Presentation
Tweeting for Asylum
Syrian refugee, Hassan Al Kontar lived seven months in a Malaysian airport, stuck in arrivals after fleeing the war in his home country and initially unable to obtain a visa. He launched a Twitter campaign detailing his struggle before the B.C. Muslim Association and a group of sponsors took action to bring him to Canada. Join Hassan for this fascinating discussion about Hassan’s experience, the power of social media and the global refugee crisis.
- Keynote Presentation
IN THE MEDIA
PODCASTS
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MEDIA INTERVIEWS
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Hassan Al Kontar CAN DELIVER CUSTOMIZED PRESENTATIONS WITHIN THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF EXPERTISE & TOPIC THEMES
Expertise in
- Resilience & Adversity
Speaker Types
- Conference Keynote
- Education & Teachers
- Finance & Insurance
- Inspirational
- Motivation
- Racial Justice
- Social Justice & Human Rights
FAQs ON BOOKING Hassan Al Kontar
Hassan Al Kontar keynote speaker is an expert presenter and has a wide range of experience speaking to a wide variety of audiences and organizations. Hassan Al Kontar delivers keynotes, workshops & training sessions. They may also host or emcee events. Hire Hassan Al Kontar from Vancouver, British Columbia for your event to inspire the audience to take action and make change in their work and their lives. Your workplace will benefit from our keynote speaker and their keynote talks and speeches will shift the mindsets or behaviours for the audience members in Canada.
Interested in Booking Hassan Al Kontar for an event?
Are you looking to hire Hassan Al Kontar for your event? Hassan Al Kontar Vancouver, British Columbia is a dynamic and engaging speaker that offers audiences researched content paired with expertise and a dynamic speaking ability. Hassan Al Kontar is also a Canadian corporate consultant and coach and facilitates workshops and training sessions for a corporate audience. Hassan Al Kontar is an expert keynote presenter and speaks on wide variety of topics. Hiring a great speaker for your event is important and working with a thought leader like Hassan Al Kontar from Speakers Canada’s roster will engage audiences into the content of the presentation to bring awareness and a fresh perspective for their approach to their work and their lives. Book Hassan Al Kontar to educate, motivate and activate the audience through an interactive and entertaining presentation at corporate meetings and gatherings.
Known as a popular key note speaker in Canada, Hassan Al Kontar creates life changing experiences for the participants with practical insights and strategic advice they can implement right after the session. Working with a one our leading expert speaker like Hassan Al Kontar from Vancouver, British Columbia offers organizations a fresh perspective to assist the people of the organization. No matter if it is a government, association, or business crowd, Hassan Al Kontar is a perfect speaker for your event. Through unique practical insights for trending topics and years experience speaking to different organizations, Hassan Al Kontar focuses on changing individuals to make better decisions at work and their lives. No matter if you are holding an in person or virtual event, having an influential speaker such as Hassan Al Kontar will engage, motivate, and activate the audience to make a change in their lives and inspire action for results to meet organizational goals. Your workforce will benefit from Hassan Al Kontar’s presentations and speeches, with measurable results set to shift the people of the organization and core direction of the company. Book Hassan Al Kontar speaker for your annual general meeting, conference, summit, or convention in Canada.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BOOK Hassan Al Kontar FOR A VIRTUAL OR KEYNOTE PRESENTATION?
Hassan Al Kontar is an expert professional key note speaker with a lot of experience speaking and delivering engaging talks to organizations and audiences in Canada. Each of Speaker Bureau Canada’s talent have different ways to assess their fees, and Hassan Al Kontar speaker fee ranges depending on the size of the audience, event format (in person or virtual), event location, and if the organization booking them is a non profit, association, government department/government agency or business/corporation. The speakers we work with are flexible with their fees, and it is important for us to learn more about your event before we approach them, as it is our role to work for you, and to help you find a speaker within budget.
Please contact Speakers Bureau of Canada and provide us with your event details so that we can contact Hassan Al Kontar to check availability or confirm the pricing and associated costs to hire a great speaker like Hassan Al Kontar for your event. As Hassan Al Kontar's agent and as a Canadian top speaker bureau and talent agency for speakers, we are able to propose each event opportunity from each host organization’s behalf to try to help you get in touch with Hassan Al Kontar and confirm them for your in person or online meeting/event. We can also provide and advise on the booking process and potentially negotiate their fee. Speakers Canada is a client focused speaker agency, and we work for you in finding good speakers for your team meetings and booking processes.
DISCLAIMER:
Speakers Bureau Canada assists companies and event planning teams seeking to hire talent like Hassan Al Kontar for speaking engagements, virtual meetings, conference appearances, training sessions and workshops facilitations. Our Canadian speakers bureau does not claim to exclusively represent Hassan Al Kontar, however they are represented by Speakers Canada, and we work with them closely for their Canadian speaking opportunities and bookings. As Canada’s top speaker bureau, we represent Canadian motivational keynote speakers and professional guest speakers that will be available on your upcoming events date and location that are withing the budget. Our talented bureau speaker booking agency can help find business speakers or celebrity speakers that aligns with each organization, audience, event theme and the topic themes you hope for the speaker to address in their presentation.
When SBC receives a request to book Hassan Al Kontar we provide you with their speaker fees, travel costs and check their schedules. We work closely with the host organization’s event planning team and the speaker to handle the logistics and to relay or negotiate associated costs. Our talented team members then will work with our talent directly or their agent/manager/assistant to confirm the Canadian speaker fee and travel expenses, so that event planning teams can receive an official quote for the speaker appearing at the event. Speaker fees and travel costs vary per speaker and our role is to contact Hassan Al Kontar about your event, after we have connected with the event organizers to learn all the event details and/or conference program. Each booking request is unique since session durations and audience sizes can vary which may affect the speaker’s fees. If you are looking to hire Hassan Al Kontar, we recommend filling out the booking request form so a booking agent from Speakers Bureau Canada can get in touch with our talent to help you coordinate with your team to engage the speaker for a successful event.
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