Australian court rules women can sue over Qatar strip-search ordeal
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Australia’s government cited the incident as a reason to block Qatar Airways from operating more flights into Australia.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
SYDNEY – A group of Australian women strip-searched after boarding a Qatar Airways flight in Doha won a court victory on July 24 that paves the way for them to sue the airline.
In an incident that sparked international outrage, the Qatari authorities pulled women off 10 planes in Doha in 2020 and forced them to take invasive gynaecological exams.
The authorities were hunting for the mother of a newborn found abandoned in an airport toilet.
Five Australian women caught up in the ordeal lodged legal action against Qatar Airways, claiming they were assaulted and falsely imprisoned.
Australia’s Federal Court ruled in 2024
But that decision was reversed on appeal on July 24, with three Federal Court judges stating the case should be heard at trial.
Australia’s government cited the incident as a reason to block Qatar Airways from operating more flights into Australia.
Qatar’s then Prime Minister Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani offered his “sincerest apologies for what some female travellers went through”. AFP
