Australian women on Qatar flight internally examined

[Flying mermaid]

Well we have gone from absolute silence up until very recently yesterday to a very public muscular display from the PM yesterday and in today’s papers. ‘Give me a report by tomorrow I demand it’.
So all the gentle foreign affairs seems to have gone out of the window once it became public.
Lots of foreign affairs experts.

huffing and puffing for the Australian media is very different to talking directly to officials which is what we were discussing. nobody pays much attention to what is said for local consumption. I often have this vision of a leader of a country phoning up another one and saying "sorry I had to say bad things about you today for the media, but you know what its like". and the other one answering and saying "yes my friend all is well - we have to do these things"

 

[Pushka]

I know we can't discuss moderation, but I'd like to give credit to the AFF team and its moderators for allowing discussion in relation to QR on this sensitive topic. Some other popular flying sites do not.

Cruise Critic comes to mind. Mention truthful current COVID realities about cruises right now and poof - post gets deleted.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I know we can't discuss moderation, but I'd like to give credit to the AFF team and its moderators for allowing discussion in relation to QR on this sensitive topic. Some other popular flying sites do not.

If you are referring to say Flyertalk, they have a separate forum which is the appropriate place to discuss the State of Qatar, as opposed to Qatar Airways.

The discussion around Qatar Airways is not necessarily that they were responsible, but that many will choose to avoid them now to cut out transit in Doha. The actions of the airport officials may or may not be linked to the actions of the Qatari government. The report may shed some light on that.

 

[Mrsfefe]

Some people online have been saying that a pregnancy test would have picked up HCG (within a certain time frame after childbirth) and found the mother

Can someone with medical background comment on this?

A urinary pregnancy stick test will still be positive for at least a week after delivery.

A woman could be escorted to a toilet cubicle, and do a urine test behind a closed door, and the stick immediately read by nurse/ doctor/ anyone.

An ultrasound gives immediate information on a postpartum uterus, enlarged but empty, and does not require removal of your underwear.

The method chosen was totally unnecessary to obtain the desired information. As I said before, this is how vets check post natal camels, obviously the women were being viewed in the same way.

 

[Pushka]

huffing and puffing for the Australian media is very different to talking directly to officials which is what we were discussing. nobody pays much attention to what is said for local consumption. I often have this vision of a leader of a country phoning up another one and saying "sorry I had to say bad things about you today for the media, but you know what its like". and the other one answering and saying "yes my friend all is well - we have to do these things"

But in reality some discussions have possibly occurred but not for public consumption just yet.

 

[davidj]

The report is already out... Their government has said we regret what we did but we had to do it. I don't think any other info would change the overall narrative either way.

 

[get me outta here]

The fact that the PM is a certain poliie is totally beside the point. The point is there has been no direct contact as said in Senate Estimates. If you wish to support pollies go ahead.

Of course the Government has got to respond when an issue is in the public domain.

Maybe stop faulting the Australian government ( no surprise) and focus on putting the blame and fault where it really lies?? You are only distracting from the main issue and politicising it.

 

[p--and--t]

IMHO, to the Qatari the welfare of the mother was not of priority, the child (once it was discovered it was female) would not have been of highest priority. The Qatari's investigation of a crime carried out by a female was of the highest priority and other females were expendable in the process.

YMMV

 

[get me outta here]

EDIT - In Senate estimates it was stated that no MINISTRIAL contact had been made.

But in reality some discussions have possibly occurred but not for public consumption just yet.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The report is already out... Their government has said we regret what we did but we had to do it. I don't think any other info would change the overall narrative either way.

I read the statement a little differently. They have given us a 'why' it happened from the perspective of the staff at the airport, but they haven't said yet whether it was justified, or lawful. It's possible this search was against Qatari law. Hopefully the report will shed light on that.

 

[Happy Trails]

According to this article the actions were unlawful and the investigation is still in progress.

Harrowing details emerge in abandoned baby, strip search case as Qatar launches 'attempted murder' probe - Doha News | Qatar

Authorities in Qatar disclosed more details on the harrowing story that saw women strip searched and an abandoned baby discovered at Doha's international airport.

www.dohanews.co

 

[Flying mermaid]

But in reality some discussions have possibly occurred but not for public consumption just yet.

There have definitely been discussions at the dfat level, with the Australian ambassador in Doha talking to their foreign minister and the department calling in the Qatari ambassador here.

I am not sure what the purpose of the department and the ambassadors are if they aren’t used initially. Maybe we should get rid of the whole department and just let the pollies do it.....

 

[dajop]

Interesting that Al Jazeera (which is also owned by Qatar government), has been reporting on the matter. Headlines/intro sound favourable to Qatari government and focus on the crime commited by the mother, but article perhaps less so.

Qatar ‘regrets distress’ after women subjected to examination

Doha apologises after several women were invasively examined following the discovery of a baby abandoned at the airport.

www.aljazeera.com

CCTV footage shows moment abandoned baby found at Qatar’s airport

Video, obtained by local media outlet, shows a deserted newborn baby discovered at Hamad International Airport.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[UP4014]

Qatar is interested in making sure it's a crime, although in my opinion it's a mental health problem (or fear of something) and turning the mother into a criminal is completely the wrong approach.

 

[Mattg]

The report is already out... Their government has said we regret what we did but we had to do it. I don't think any other info would change the overall narrative either way.

The report is not out. The Qatari government issued a 3-paragraph statement to the media, which is what is being reported on.

 

[bcworld]

I know we can't discuss moderation, but I'd like to give credit to the AFF team and its moderators for allowing discussion in relation to QR on this sensitive topic. Some other popular flying sites do not.

Agreed. But it also depends how the discussion goes. In another forum some of the responses to this left me speechless (women should be used to this type of exam and what happened was merely inconvenient! - this coming from a CX pilot). And of course not everyone holds back in responding to it.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Agreed. But it also depends how the discussion goes. In another forum some of the responses to this left me speechless (women should be used to this type of exam and what happened was merely inconvenient! - this coming from a CX pilot). And of course not everyone holds back in responding to it.

So he presumably also thinks a woman is used to sex so a rape shouldn’t worry her

 

[jb747]

- this coming from a CX pilot). And of course not everyone holds back in responding to it.

An actual CX pilot, or just someone claiming to be?

 

[bogusidiot]

So did they actually find the mother of the baby after all this? That part of the story is unclear

 

[Flying mermaid]

So did they actually find the mother of the baby after all this? That part of the story is unclear

I don’t believe so - not according to the article I have just read, which also says that British and French women were also assaulted.

Video of baby in airport emerges as UK confirms two women involved in Qatari search scandal

Video purporting to show the rescue of the baby at the centre of the Qatari invasive search scandal has surfaced in Doha media.

www.abc.net.au