Surveillance camera footage obtained by the website Doha News shows officials care for an abandoned baby at Hamad International Airport in Doha,Qatar on October 2,2020.Credit:Courtesy of Doha News via AP
The women were removed by armed guards and many say they were forced to conduct non-consensual gynaecological or intimate physical examinations.
Out of the 18 Australian women involved in the incident,five have now taken their action to the Federal Court after failing to gain compensation from the Qatari government through other channels.
“Sometimes you need to deploy a legal remedy in circumstances where either moral,or in fact even political or diplomatic pressure,is getting nowhere,” said Marque Lawyers partner Damian Sturzaker who acts for the five women.
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The women,who cannot be legally named,were passengers on a flight from Doha to Sydney and are seeking damages for the alleged misconduct of the government-run Qatar Civil Aviation Authority and Qatar Airways.
One passenger was forced to undergo a strip search holding her five-month old son,the lawsuit claims. Another,who is elderly and legally blind,was directed out of the aircraft but was not subject to a search.
The incident was reported by the women to the Australian Federal Police upon their arrival in Sydney on October 3,2020.