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Women aboard a Sydney-bound flight, including 13 Australians, were forced to undergo invasive internal exams earlier this month after a premature baby was found in an airport bathroom.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has raised the incident with the Qatari ambassador.
“This is a tremendously disturbing, offensive and worrying set of events,” Senator Payne told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
“It is not something that I have heard happening in my life, in any context.”
Due to the coronavirus rules, the ambassador could not be summoned to the federal parliament.
Instead, the minister has spoken with the ambassador by phone to reiterate the government’s concerns, which were raised for the first time on October 6.
Senator Payne expects Qatari officials to conduct an urgent investigation and deliver their report by the end of this week.
He confirmed that the matter had also been referred to the Australian Federal Police.
The federal government said the examinations went well beyond the circumstances in which women could give their free and informed consent.
“The Australian government is deeply concerned about the unacceptable treatment of some female passengers on a recent Qatar Airways flight at Doha airport,” a spokesperson told AAP.
“The government has formally registered our serious concerns about this incident with the Qatari authorities. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is involved in this matter through diplomatic channels.”
Management at Hamad International Airport said the baby was safe and was being cared for by medical and social workers.
Medical professionals were concerned for the mother’s health after the baby was found and requested that she be located.
“People who had access to a specific area of the airport where the newborn was found were asked to assist in the consultation,” airport management told ABC.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese described the reports as disturbing and said the government was right to demand answers.
“The idea that women could be the target of such intrusive searches is, in my opinion, an absolute shame,” she told reporters.
“The government really needs to make the strongest possible protest to the government of Qatar.”
Federal opposition leader Joel Fitzgibbon said the government should be robust in its response.
“If true, this effectively amounts to state-sanctioned sexual assault and we should all be very, very concerned,” he told Seven Network.
National Congressman Barnaby Joyce said it was outrageous and completely unacceptable that women were subjected to such humiliating tests.
