Surgeon says he was victim of ‘clear racial triaging’ at airport security
A top surgeon has claimed airport security staff singled him out as a result of ‘clear racial triaging’.
Professor Aali Sheen was waiting in a queue at Manchester Airport on April 3 as he and his family prepared for a ski holiday in Grenoble.
He says he was asked to queue for a body scanner while a large group of white travellers were sent through a metal detector.
‘It was racism’ said the 51-year-old said: ‘ It was clear racial triaging.’
But Manchester Airport maintain all policies and procedures were followed.
A spokesperson added that Aali had been singled out simply to ‘adhere to the requisite ratio of body scanner and metal detector usage’.
The surgeon, who has Pakistani heritage, had become embroiled in a confrontation with an official in Terminal 1 after queueing for two hours for security.
Aali, who works at Manchester Royal Infirmary, said the staff member beckoned him towards a queue at the body scanner, despite the fact the smaller archway metal detector was clear and free to use.
The surgeon questioned why he was the only one asked to use the device.
Aali said: ‘I challenged him. I knew the reason. It was obvious. To me it was obvious.
‘He said “just do as you are told”. He was really rude to me and I said “don’t talk to me like that”. I told him he needed to give me a reason because why make someone, well, like me need to go through.
‘He started arguing with me. I said to him “don’t talk back to me – I’m the customer. I know you are a security officer but I think you are being disrespectful to me”.
‘And then when I collected my bags and looked back I saw an obviously Muslim family and they were all going through the same scanner as me.
‘They were being directed there by the same person. It was just wrong. At the same time other people, shall I say Anglo-Saxons, were being ushered through the small scanner.
‘It was racist. It was clear racial triaging. There was no need for me to go through that big scanner. There was no-one there at the smaller scanner. I could have gone through there. I had to go through the big scanner. Why? It was clear racial targeting. I’m shocked. If I did that as a doctor, I would be struck off. I would lose my job.’
Aali wrote an official complaint to Manchester Airport and later reached out to his local MP.
He received a response from airport bosses on May 24 who apologies for the experience which they said ‘fell below the standard we expect our customers to receive and I regret the inconvenience and distress caused.
A Manchester Airport spokesman said: ‘We take all allegations of racism incredibly seriously, and this matter was investigated fully in May when the passenger contacted our customer feedback team.
‘We are satisfied all policies and procedures, which are set by Government, were followed.’
Layers of security procedures are set by the Government rather than airport bosses. Body scanners, which Aali was told to use, were described as ‘primary scanning devices’ at Manchester Airport.
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