Australian Women to Sue Qatar Over Invasive Airport Strip-Searches

• Australian women to sue Qatar over invasive airport strip-searches

• Qatar eventually apologized for the incident, and one airport employee was sentenced to a suspended jail term

EKO HOT BLOG reports that a group of Australian ladies have sued Qatari authorities after being strip-searched and inspected at Doha airport.

After a baby was discovered in a bin at Hamad Airport in October, the women were pulled off a flight and their privates were searched to see whether they had given birth.

The women’s experience was described as state-sanctioned assault, and the episode caused significant indignation on social media.

Armed guards escorted them from the Qatar Airways jet before transporting them to ambulances on the tarmac, where they were evaluated by nurses.

The women stated that they did not agree to the examinations and that they were not provided explanations for what was going on with them.

Qatar eventually apologized for the incident, and one airport employee was sentenced to a suspended jail term, but the ladies claim their cases have been disregarded since.

One of the women, who anonymously spoke to the BBC said she was “subjected to the most horrifically invasive physical exam”.

“I was certain that I was either going to be killed by one of the many men that had a gun, or that my husband on the plane was going to be killed,” she said in a statement from her lawyer.

The examinations lasted about five minutes before they were escorted back to their flight.

Several women reported the incident to police after landing in Australia, sparking public attention and condemnation from several nations.

At the time, Qatar’s Prime Minister Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani tweeted an apology saying: “We regret the unacceptable treatment of the female passengers… What took place does not reflect Qatar’s laws or values.”

The women want a formal apology from Qatar and the airport to change its procedures to make sure the incident does not happen again, Mr Sturzaker said.

They are also seeking damages and allege assault, battery, trespass and false imprisonment by the Qatari government, Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority and Qatar Airways.

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