‘Big mistake’: Qatari minister mum on compensation for Australian women searched at airport

Qatar’s foreign minister has refused to say if the Australian women subjected to invasive searches at Hamad International Airport should be compensated for their ordeal. Seven of the women are launching a lawsuit against Qatari authorities and say, through their lawyer, that they have been told their claims have no legal merit. On October 2, 2020, the women were transiting through Doha and had boarded their flight when they were hauled off two Qatar Airways flights at Hamad International Airport without explanation. Some were taken to an ambulance and instructed to remove their pants and underwear and were then subjected to an extremely invasive gynaecological inspection. The women did not consent and say they were panicked, scared and extremely anxious, some feared for their lives and compared it to being raped. All women say they have suffered depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and fear of flying ever since. Qatari authorities had found a newborn baby abandoned in a bin at an airport toilet. It is illegal to have a child out of marriage in the Gulf state. The women were being examined to see if they had given birth. Asked by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age if they should be compensated, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said the matter had been settled. “As the government we are taking the full responsibility of this action and we are penalising the people who were responsible for such a slip, which was a big mistake, and we apologised to the Australian government and to the victims of that incident,” he said.<br/>