Australia Asks Qatar To Explain Forced Strip-Search Of Women At Doha Airport

Australia on Monday decried Qatar Authorities’ ‘grossly’ invasive searches of women passengers on a flight to Sydney after a newborn baby was found abandoned at Doha’s Hamad International Airport.

The women, who were on a Qatar Airways flight QR908 to Sydney on Oct. 2, were subjected to forced medical examination in an ambulance on the tarmac.

The Australian government confirmed that the horrific incident has been reported to Australian Federal Police.

The incident happened after a newborn was discovered in a terminal toilet by an airport staff. Among those examined include 13 Australians and several other women of different nationalities travelling to Sydney.

Meanwhile, Hamad Airport has made a statement that the medical professionals had expressed concerns to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and had requested to locate her prior to her departing the airport.

Women, irrespective of the age, were forced to undergo the forced stripping. It included mothers and even young women. “Some were upset, angry and some were crying,” Sydney lawyer Dr Wolfgang Babeck, one of the passengers on the same Qatar flight, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne described the incident as a “grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events.

“It is not something that I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context. We have made our views very clear to Qatari authorities on this matter,” Marise said.

She also informed that the government has formally registered its serious concerns regarding the incident with Qatari authorities and have been assured that detailed and transparent information on the event will be provided.

Marise also raised her concerns about the lack of consent from the women before the physical examination.

All the passengers went into a14-day hotel quarantine on arrival in Sydney. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is still seeking information from the women affected and has made counselling and mental health services available for them.

According to Qatar law, it’s illegal to have sex outside marriage. In the UAE, an unmarried foreign woman has to serve a jail sentence before they leave the country if she becomes a mother. Hospitals and Health workers are required to report on such incidents involving unmarried mothers.