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EasyJet apologises after cops called to quiz headscarf-wearing sisters
Two sisters wearing headscarves were taken off an easyJet flight for questioning after other passengers wrongly accused them of supporting Isis.
Sakina Dharas, aged 24, and her 19-year-old sister Maryam had boarded the flight to Naples at Stansted with their sibling Ali.
However, a crew member asked them to leave the aircraft after passengers had raised concerns.
Maryam, a student at London’s King’s College, and Sakina, a University College London clinical pharmacist, were then quizzed for an hour by police at the bottom of the aircraft steps.
The three, who are of Indian descent and come from northwest London, told the Guardian that the police asked: "Do you speak English?"
Maryam said: "What happened was wrong. This kind of profiling shouldn’t take place. I don’t want this to happen again to anyone else."
EasyJet has since apologised but Maryam told the Guardan her sister Sakina, was left close to tears by the treatment.
She told the paper: "We’re told a couple had reported us having been reading Isis materials."
"My sister and I wear headscarves. We thought, there’s clearly profiling going on here. We were just in shock. What is going on? None of us have been doing that. We’re absolutely flummoxed."
She claimed they were asked if they had Arabic on their phones and if they had been reading the Qur’an.
"We don’t even speak Arabic, we don’t know Arabic, we’re not even Arabs."
They were allowed back on to the flight but Sakina was told she faced further background checks.
An easyJet spokesperson said: "EasyJet can confirm that, following concerns raised by a passenger during the boarding, a member of ground staff requested the assistance of the police, who took the decision to talk to three passengers at the bottom of the aircraft steps, before departure.
"The police then confirmed to the captain that the passengers were cleared to complete their journey and they reboarded the aircraft and the flight departed to Naples.
"The safety and security of its passengers and crew is our highest priority, which means that if a security concern is raised, we will always investigate it as a precautionary measure. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the passengers."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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