Women to sue Qatar over invasive airport searches
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
February 08, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2023
Women to sue Qatar over invasive airport searches

World+Biz

BSS/AFP
15 November, 2021, 10:55 am
Last modified: 15 November, 2021, 11:08 am

Related News

  • A woman’s dreadful night in Dhaka
  • Biman aircraft suffers tire puncture during take-off at Sylhet airport
  • Power outage blacks out terminals at Los Angeles airport
  • HC seeks list of Bangladeshi workers who died building Qatar World Cup stadiums
  • Afghan female students not allowed to sit university entrance exam - Taliban ministry

Women to sue Qatar over invasive airport searches

 Sturzaker said the women were seeking a formal apology, compensation, and protection for future passengers transiting through the airport

BSS/AFP
15 November, 2021, 10:55 am
Last modified: 15 November, 2021, 11:08 am
An airport police officer who oversaw the searches was reportedly convicted. Photo :NDTV
An airport police officer who oversaw the searches was reportedly convicted. Photo :NDTV

A group of women subjected to invasive gynaecological searches at Doha airport will sue Qatari authorities, seeking redress for an ordeal that sparked global condemnation, their lawyer told AFP Monday.

Women on 10 Qatar Airways flights from Doha, including 13 Australians, were subjected to the examinations late last year as authorities searched for the mother of a newborn found abandoned in an airport bathroom.

The incident caused outrage, and fuelled concerns about Qatar's treatment of women as the Gulf state prepares to receive thousands of foreign visitors for the 2022 football World Cup.

Damian Sturzaker, from Sydney-based firm Marque Lawyers, said seven affected passengers now plan legal action to "send a message to Qatari authorities that you can't treat women... in this manner".

"The group of women have suffered enormous distress on the evening concerned, now just over a year ago, and they continue to suffer distress and ill effects and trauma as a result of what occurred," he told AFP.

 Sturzaker said the women were seeking a formal apology, compensation, and protection for future passengers transiting through the airport.

Qatar is an ultra-conservative Muslim monarchy, where sex and childbirth outside of marriage are punishable by jail.

Ahead of the World Cup, the country has struggled to reassure critics that its promises on women's rights, labour relations and democracy are credible.

Facing potentially devastating commercial and reputational damage after the incident, Qatar vowed to guarantee the future "safety and security" of passengers.

The country's prime minister also issued an apology, while an airport police officer who oversaw the searches was reportedly convicted.

But Sturzaker said the women had not been made aware of any improvements to airport procedures and their attempts to seek mediation had been unsuccessful.

They now wanted to highlight their case ahead of the FIFA tournament, to ensure other travellers were well-informed before visiting Qatar, he added.

"They should be aware that -- whilst there is a guise of a highly developed, highly modernised airport and national carrier -- these events have happened and there's nothing preventing them from happening again," he said.

Qatar's embassy in Canberra and Qatar Airways did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sturzaker said the lawsuit would be filed in Australia against the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways and the country's government within weeks.

Top News

qatar / women / airport

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • HSC, equivalent exams result 2020
    Girls fare better in this year's HSC, equivalent exams; over 9% drop in pass rate
  • Photo: PID
    Govt making all-out efforts to implement SDGs: PM Hasina
  • Photo: TBS
    RMG turns to India from China to get cheaper man-made yarn

MOST VIEWED

  • FILE PHOTO: People wearing face masks commute in a subway station during morning rush hour, following the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China January 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
    No new variants in weeks after China ended zero-Covid: Study
  • President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
    Biden in State of the Union address vows to 'finish the job'
  • Aerial photos showed the extent of the damage in more densely populated and hard-hit areas like Hatay city in southern Turkey. Image: IHA/AP/picture alliance
    Turkey-Syria earthquake: Rescuers press on into third day
  • Photo: Collected
    'Get me out of here…I'll be your servant': Trapped Syrian child pleads for help
  • General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
    Microsoft hopes AI can save Bing from Google search hegemony
  • A general view shows the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank September 11, 2018/ Reuters
    Israeli minister says no pause on settlements after US asked Israel to halt expansion

Related News

  • A woman’s dreadful night in Dhaka
  • Biman aircraft suffers tire puncture during take-off at Sylhet airport
  • Power outage blacks out terminals at Los Angeles airport
  • HC seeks list of Bangladeshi workers who died building Qatar World Cup stadiums
  • Afghan female students not allowed to sit university entrance exam - Taliban ministry

Features

Illustration: TBS

Planning to study abroad? Explore these four underrated scholarships

4h | Pursuit
Representational image. Photo: Collected.

The understated perks of journaling

3h | Pursuit
Photo: Reuters

A tragedy that will also shake up the region's geopolitics

17h | Panorama
Nimah designed by Compass Architects- Wooden tiles. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

Trendy flooring designs to upgrade any space

1d | Habitat

More Videos from TBS

30% companies see double-digit growth even in hard times

30% companies see double-digit growth even in hard times

19h | TBS Insight
Challenging time waiting for RMG

Challenging time waiting for RMG

1d | TBS Round Table
"Full Moon Meditation" organized by Department of Theater and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka

"Full Moon Meditation" organized by Department of Theater and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka

1d | TBS Graduates
10 cricketers who have played over 400 T20 matches

10 cricketers who have played over 400 T20 matches

1d | TBS SPORTS

Most Read

1
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

2
Master plan for futuristic Chattogram city in the making
Districts

Master plan for futuristic Chattogram city in the making

3
Photo: Collected
Crime

Prime Distribution MD Mamun arrested in fraud case

4
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

5
Photo: Collected
Startups

ShopUp secures $30m debt financing to boost expansion, supply chain

6
ICB to withdraw Padma Bank investment as return eludes
Banking

ICB to withdraw Padma Bank investment as return eludes

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]