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Image posted, Reuters
The women were examined at Hamad International Airport after a newborn was found in a garbage can
Qatar said it would investigate allegations that the women, who were traveling on 10 flights, were subjected to internal checks at a Doha airport.
The women were tested to see if they had conceived after a newborn was found in a garbage container at Hamad International Airport on October 2.
Australian officials said 13 of their citizens and five women from other countries were disembarked from a single plane, but that they ultimately did not search all of them.
The Qatari government apologized and said the boy was safely in a location for medical care.
He added that the newborn was found in a plastic bag buried under the garbage, prompting “an immediate search for her parents inside the airport, including on board flights near where she was found.”
“While the purpose of the decision to conduct a swift search was to prevent the perpetrators of the horrific crime from escaping, the State of Qatar regrets any pain that has caused or infringes the personal freedoms that any traveler suffered due to this measure,” said a official statement.
The government had conducted a “thorough and transparent investigation” into the accident and said it would share the results of the investigation with other countries.
Australia said it was cooperating with Qatar and coordinating efforts with “two or three other countries” whose citizens were affected, but did not reveal the names of those countries.
Investigation aAustralian
The controls came to light this week after passengers on those planes contacted Australian authorities.
Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne said on Wednesday that 13 Australian women, among a group of other women traveling on 10 flights, had been screened. But he did not reveal the nationalities of the other women.
Image posted, EPA
Australian Foreign Minister Francis Adamson “This is not normal behavior by all standards.”
And Australian media previously reported that all adult women who were aboard a plane departing from Doha to Sydney, were disembarked at Hamad International Airport.
They were then taken to an ambulance on the track and asked to remove their underwear before being examined.
Many of them were reportedly subsequently upset and received support and medical care from the Australian government.
Australia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that reports indicated that the incident “exceeds all standards where the permission and consent of these women can be freely obtained for examination and inspection.”
But he refused to consider the incident a sexual assault, while he was still seeking more details from Qatari officials. And opposition politicians in Australia viewed the incident as sexual assault.
Australia has referred the matter to its federal police.
Australian Foreign Office Secretary Francis Adamson told a Senate hearing on Wednesday that an Australian diplomatic official was on a plane bound for Sydney.
Diplomacy was not examined, but the ministry was immediately informed of the incident.
“I suspected this really happened,” Adamson added during the hearing.
“This is not normal behavior by all standards, and Qataris are appalled by it, and they don’t want it to happen again.”
Qatar said in its statement that it is committed to ensuring the safety and comfort of travelers transiting the country.
Doha Hamad International Airport remained open as a major transit hub for international travel during the Coronavirus pandemic.
