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SYDNEY: Female passengers on 10 planes departing Doha were forced to undergo invasive physical inspections after an abandoned newborn baby was found in an airport bathroom, vastly increasing the number of women previously believed affected.
On Sunday it was revealed that the women were removed from a Qatar Airways flight bound for Sydney in Doha earlier this month and escorted from the plane to ambulances by security officers, where they were examined for signs that they had given. recently delivered.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne told a Senate hearing on Wednesday (October 28) that women in “10 aircraft in total” had been the subject of searches that she described as “tremendously disturbing” and ” offensive. “
“We realized that yesterday thanks to advice from our post in Doha,” he said.
He said 18 Australian women on the October 2 flight to Sydney were affected, along with “other foreign nationals.” AFP understands that a French woman on the flight was among them.
Payne did not detail the destinations of the other flights.
READ: Qatar ‘forcibly examined’ women, prompting an irate diplomatic response
The incident has sparked a diplomatic spat between Australia and Qatar, with Canberra protesting with the Middle Eastern nation over the treatment of its citizens.
Officials said Australia was also working with other countries to jointly raise its concerns with Doha, but declined to name those countries, citing privacy concerns.
Payne admitted that he had not spoken directly to his Qatari counterpart and said he was “waiting to see the report” on the incident, which he expected to receive this week.
Doha’s Hamad International Airport previously confirmed a broad schedule of events, without providing details of the procedures, or the number of women and flights involved.
He also launched an appeal Sunday for the boy’s mother to come forward, saying the baby remains unidentified but is “safe under the professional care of medical and social workers.”
On Wednesday, Qatar said it “regrets” having infringed personal freedoms in its attempt to search for the baby’s mother.
“While the purpose of the urgently decided search was to prevent the perpetrators of the horrific crime from escaping, the State of Qatar regrets any distress or violation of the personal freedoms of any traveler caused by this action,” a statement posted on a website of the government. He said.
