13 Aussie women stripped in horror Qatar Airways flight after baby found

Australian women have described their fear as they were dragged off a flight, locked in an ambulance and subjected to invasive examinations.

WARNING: Distressing details

Australian women have described their fear as they were dragged off a Sydney-bound plane by Qatari authorities and forced to undergo invasive examinations after the discovery of an abandoned baby at the airport.

A number of women, included 13 Australians, were rounded up and subjected to the “invasive” examinations at Doha’s Hamad International Airport on October 2.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is waiting for a report from Qatari authorities into the incident, which Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne described as “grossly disturbing and offensive” and unlike anything she “had ever heard of”.

The incident has been reported to the Australian Federal Police.

The ABC has spoken to two women who were passengers on Qatar Airways flight 908 to Sydney, which was delayed for hours after the premature baby was found alive in an airport bathroom.

“No-one spoke English or told us what was happening. It was terrifying,” one of the women told the ABC.

“There were 13 of us and we were all made to leave.

“A mother near me had left her sleeping children on the plane. There was an elderly woman who was vision impaired and she had to go too. I’m pretty sure she was searched.”

The other woman told the ABC she was taken to an ambulance and locked inside with a female nurse.

“They never explained anything. She told me to pull my pants down and that I needed to examine my vagina,” she said.

“I said ‘I’m not doing that’ and she did not explain anything to me. She just kept saying, ‘we need to see it, we need to see it’.”

A Qatar Airways Boeing 777 aircraft at Hamad International Airport in April. Picture: Karim Jaafar/AFP

She told the ABC she was forced to take off her clothes and was inspected and touched by the nurse.

“I was panicking. Everyone had gone white and was shaking,” she said.

“I was very scared at that point, I didn’t know what the possibilities were.”

The first woman who spoke to the ABC said while she respected Qatari law she was considering legal action.

“If the other 12 women came forward with a class action, I would definitely be part of that,” she said.

RELATED: Man banned from airline over racist rant

The total number of women subjected to the examination, and their nationalities, have not yet been revealed.

In a statement, Hamad International Airport said the child was safe and being cared for by medical and social workers.

It said medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of the mother and wanted to find her, and asked that she was found before she left the airport.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said Australia took the matter “extremely seriously” and had taken it up with Qatari authorities here and in Doha.

“I understand inquiries are still taking place by those people affected by this occurrence and we also understand the matter has been reported to the Australian Federal Police,” she said.

“This is a grossly, grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events. It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context, (and) we have made our views very clear to the Qatari authorities on this matter.”

Ms Payne said she was awaiting a report by Qatari authorities into what had occurred at the airport.

“Once I have seen that, we will determine next steps,” she said.

“It has been taken up directly with the ambassador here, and of course directly with authorities in Doha.”

It is unclear what powers Australian Federal Police would have over the incident in Doha.

RELATED: Eerie reason behind deadly plane crash

RELATED: Passenger filmed punching flight attendant

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne described the incident as ‘grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning’. Picture: Sean Davey

‘PEOPLE COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED’

A passenger on the Sydney-bound flight has described seeing women return to their seats visibly distressed after being sent for medical examination.

Wolfgang Babeck said passengers had been waiting for hours on the tarmac before female passengers were told to disembark.

“I thought the more vulnerable persons are being taken out and I was wondering what will happen now, are they looking for someone, are they searching the plane?” Dr Babeck told RN Breakfast.

“Then some security people came on-board and looking (to see) whether passengers had been hiding on the plane.

“When the women came back, many of them or probably all of them were upset — one of them was in tears, a younger woman.

“People couldn’t believe what had happened.”

The ABC reports the women received medical and psychological support from NSW Health while undergoing mandatory hotel quarantine in Sydney.

The incident has been widely condemned by Australian political figures and human rights advocates.

Federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese said he would ask for a briefing from the government into the “disturbing” incident.

“In my view it is completely unacceptable,” he said, according to the ABC.

“The government has a relationship with Qatar, the government’s in a position to regulate a range of activities and I would have thought that it needs something other than just strong words.”

Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said the incident was “totally outrageous”.

“It is a complete abrogation of responsibility and personal privacy,” she told the Today show this morning. “These women did not deserve to be going through this.

“I certainly know that Labor is very supportive. It’s behind the Australian Government. Expressing the highest level our complete and utter outrage at this obscene handling of any woman to be able to go through this invasion of privacy.

“Naturally, it’s an incredibly tragic situation when any person loses a child. But to then just drag every single woman that you can possibly see and say OK we’ll do this to you and they don’t know what is going on.

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said the incident was “totally outrageous”. Picture: Che Chorley

“All of that is just outrageous. I certainly wouldn’t want it to happen to me. I’m sure you wouldn’t want it to happen to you wouldn’t want it to happen to you. No woman anywhere would want this to happen without their express permission at all.”

Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon said if the incident was found to be true it “effectively amounts to state sanctioned sexual assault”.

“As a father, my first thought was what if this was one of my daughters,” he said.

“We should all be very concerned and the government here in Australia should be most robust in its response.”

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said it was “outrageous to think that so many ladies went through that sort of humiliation”.

“What authority did they think they had the capacity to do that? What on earth were they hoping to achieve?” he said on Sunrise.

Amnesty International called the incident “distressing, and disturbing, and a gross violation of these women’s human rights”.

“There needs to be a thorough and independent investigation and all of those involved need to be held to account,” Amnesty International Australia director Samantha Klintworth told 7 News.

Australian law expert, Associate Professor Marinella Marmo from Adelaide’s Flinders University, warned this was not an isolated incident.

“What shocks me is the easiness in which not just the clothes but the woman, her body and dignity, are stripped off by people in authority at airports around the world,” she said.

“Alternative, more human-right-based ways to check the body internally are always available, if there is a justified need for it, and rarely there is anyway.

“Close scrutiny of government reports and court cases reveals that these types of search are routine practice at many border checks around the world. They are mostly hidden from public knowledge and hence covered up by official silence.

“The secrecy surrounding the data on intrusive body searching and the ever-expanding discretionary powers of immigration officers are cause for alarm also.”

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it had raised “serious concerns” with Qatari authorities over the incident.

“The Australian Government is aware of concerning reports regarding the treatment of female passengers, including Australian citizens, at Doha (Hamad) airport in Qatar,” a spokesman said.

“We have formally registered our serious concerns regarding the incident with Qatari authorities and have been assured that detailed and transparent information on the event will be provided soon.”