The Australian government received reports on how female passengers aboard Qatar Airways were asked to get off before the flight bound for Sydney. These women told officials how they were strip-searched and medically examined to check if they have given birth recently, following an incident where a newborn baby was found in a terminal toilet by an airport staff. The Australian government is asking for an explanation from Qatar Airways regarding this. At the moment, Qatar Airways has not given any comment on the matter.
BBC News: Thirteen Australian women were taken to an ambulance on the tarmac and told to remove their underwear before being examined
According to BBC News, witnesses said that passengers had boarded the Qatar Airways flight before women were told to get off.
Thirteen Australian women were taken to an ambulance on the tarmac and told to remove their underwear before being examined, the reports said.
The Australian government said reports had indicated the treatment of the women was “beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.”
The incident happened after staff at Hamad International Airport found a newborn baby in a terminal toilet.
The New York Times: “The Australian Government is deeply concerned at the unacceptable treatment of some female passengers on a recent Qatar Airways flight at Doha airport,” the Australian authorities said in a statement.
The New York Times disclosed that the Australian government on Monday demanded answers from Qatar Airways after female passengers on a flight to Sydney from Doha reported that they had been removed from the plane, strip-searched and given invasive medical exams to see if they had recently given birth.
It called the women’s treatment “offensive, grossly inappropriate and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.”
