Women on 10 flights strip-searched at Doha airport, says Australia

sydney — Australia revealed on Wednesday that female passengers on 10 planes flying out of Doha were forced to endure ‘appalling’ physical examinations.

The Gulf nation had already been facing a huge hit to its reputation after reports emerged that women were removed from a Sydney-bound Qatar Airways flight and forced to undergo genital inspections on October 2.

The searches were carried after a newborn baby had been abandoned at Doha airport. Qatar’s government said Wednesday in its first account of the events that the baby had been wrapped in plastic and left to die in a rubbish bin.

But Australia continued to pile pressure on Qatar, with Foreign Minister

Marise Payne announcing that the number of planes targeted was much greater than a single flight.

Payne told a Senate committee that

women passengers on ‘10 aircraft in total’ had been subject to the searches, including 18 women — including 13 Australians — on flight to

Sydney. AFP understands one French woman on the Sydney-bound plane was also among them.

Payne did not detail the destinations of the other flights, adding she was unaware if any Australian women were on those planes.

Payne had already described the incidents as “grossly disturbing” and “offensive”.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also weighed into the controversy on Wednesday, describing the treatment of the women as “appalling” and “unacceptable”.

“As a father of a daughter, I could only shudder at the thought that anyone would, Australian or otherwise, would be subjected to that,” Morrison said. —