كندا: تشديدات أمنية تجبر المحجبات على خلع حجابهن بالمطارات

أعلنت الحكومة الكندية عن مزيد من الإجراءات الأمنية المشددة بالمطارات الكندية، التي بوجبها يجب كشف الوجه والرأس وتطابق صورة جواز السفر مع ملامح الشخص العمرية الحالية.

وجاءت تلك التعديلات المتعسفة عقب انتقاد وسائل الإعلام لوزير النقل بعد أن تم السماح لمسلمتين منتقبتين بالمرور من بوابات المطار الأمنية في رحلة إلى "لندن" دون خلع نقابهن.

ومن المقرر أن يطالَب المسافرون - طبقًا للتعليمات الجديدة - بخلع كل ما يستر الوجه والرأس، بما في ذلك الأقنعة الطبية، إلا في حالة حصول المسافر على تقرير طبي يفيد خطورة نزعها.

وقد انتقدت بعض المنظمات الإسلامية القرار الكندي مؤكدة أنه يهدف إلى التضييق على المسلمات وتشويه صورتهن.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Tightened airport screening forces Muslim women to remove veils

The federal government has quietly tightened screening regulations at airports so passengers boarding flights must show their faces at boarding gates, amid concerns that Muslim women were being allowed to board flights without removing their veils.

But the new rules could also create headaches for people whose appearance have changed significantly, or who have aged noticeably, since they had their photo taken for identification documents. Such passengers could now be turned away at the boarding gate.

Meanwhile, passengers wearing bandages on their heads will be allowed to pass through unchecked, as long as they have a note signed by a “health-care professional.”

Under an “interim order” by Transport Minister Chuck Strahl, airlines must now check the “entire face” of passengers passing through boarding gates. The order explicitly states that airline officials must look at passengers — first, to determine if they are 18 years or older, and if they are 18 or older, to verify their identity against their passport or other photo ID.

Previously, federal regulations required that airlines screen anyone over 18 by asking that person for the appropriate identification. But there was no explicit mention of the need for passengers to show their “entire face.”

The move comes a little over a month after former transport minister John Board ordered a review into screening regulations at boarding gates. The review was prompted by media reports about a YouTube video that appeared to show two women boarding at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport without taking off their veils. The flight was bound for Heathrow Airport in London.

"If the reports are true, the situation is deeply disturbing and poses a serious threat to the security of the air travelling public,” Baird said at the time.

In a cabinet shuffle a few days after he made the comments, Baird took over as government House leader and Strahl, who was previously Indian affairs minister, took over the transport portfolio.

The new rules stipulate that passengers cannot board a plane if they do not “’resemble" the photograph on their ID, or if they do not “appear to be the age indicated by the date of birth on the identification he or she presents.”

In addition, passengers could be prevented from boarding if they do not “appear to be the gender indicated” on the photo ID, or if they present more than one form of identification and there appears to be a “major discrepancy” between the Ids.

Exceptions are granted to passengers who have been “disfigured” after the ID photo was taken, or if their face has been bandaged for “medical reasons.” In both cases, the passenger who would to present a note from a “health-care professional.”

Airlines have noted that, before arriving at the boarding gates, passengers undergo thorough security screening under the oversight of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

Some Muslim organizations have said the review is part of a broad campaign to demonize women who wear veils that cover the face, such as the niqab or burka.

The new rules were published in a weekly regulatory update that is typically released late on Friday afternoons. It is not clear when the order would expire, if at all.

A spokesman for Strahl didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.