Australian women sue Qatar Airways over forced examinations at Doha airport

Australian women sue Qatar Airways over forced examinations at Doha airport

Five Australian women are suing Qatar Airways in the New South Wales supreme court over a 2020 incident in which they were forcibly removed from aeroplanes at gunpoint in Doha, and some intimately examined without explanation or their consent.

The women are seeking damages from both Qatar Airways and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority – owned by the Qatari government – over the “unlawful physical contact” and mental health impacts, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

On 2 October 2020, women on planes on the ground at Doha, including 13 Australians, were subjected to the examinations as authorities searched for the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in a plastic bag in the departures lounge at Hamad international airport.