Earlier this month, women were pulled from a Qatar Airways flight from Sydney to Doha.
Doha, Qatar:
Qatar said on Wednesday it “regrets” for violating personal freedoms, explaining invasive examinations of female passengers during a search for the mother of an abandoned baby at Doha airport.
Earlier this month, women were removed from a Qatar Airways flight from Sydney to Doha and forced to undergo vaginal inspections after a newborn baby was found abandoned in a toilet at an international airport Hamad.
“While the purpose of the urgently ordered search was to prevent the perpetrators of this horrible 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 government said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani said in a statement that a “full and transparent” investigation would be carried out.
He added that Qatar was “committed to ensuring the safety, security and comfort of all travelers passing through the country”.
The incident sparked a diplomatic row between Australia and Doha, with Canberra protesting the Middle Eastern nation over the treatment of its citizens.
On Wednesday, it also emerged that the number of planes targeted was much higher than previously thought.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the women in parliament aboard “10 planes in total” had been subjected to searches which she described as “extremely disturbing” and “offensive”.
Payne said 18 women – including 13 Australians – on an Oct. 2 flight to Sydney were affected, along with “other foreign nationals”. AFP understands that a French woman on board the flight was part of it.
The incident may have shaken Qatar’s efforts to bolster its reputation before the Gulf state hosted the soccer World Cup in 2022.
Doha has invested heavily in its airline, Al-Jazeera broadcaster, and social projects that include women’s health and educational initiatives.
But the conservative Muslim monarchy, where sex and childbirth outside marriage are still punishable by jail time, has struggled to reassure critics that its promises on women’s rights, labor relations and democracy are credible.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
