Pak air passengers irked by scanning procedures

Manama

Pakistani passengers who arrive in Bahrain are irked by the time consuming body scanning measures at the Salmaniya Medical Complex.

 Passengers told DT News they had to go through the mental torture for as long as eight to ten hours. They were taken to SMC for body scanning in lorries in a humiliating manner and till the completion of the whole procedure, no passenger was allowed to use toilet.

 A passenger on the condition of anonymity said the authorities did not find anything illegal from any passenger. He said there were patients and senior Pakistani citizens among the passengers.

 They said all of them herded with the same stick, irrespective of whether they were labourers, businessmen or doctors. Human dignity is an established human right and it is accepted the world over.

 They cried foul over inspecting all the Pakistani passengers. “If they have suspicion on someone, let them check that person alone in a respectful manner. The current practice is not at all tolerable,” the passenger said.

 A person who came to the airport to receive his Pakistani guest told DT News, if someone is coming for the first time, they won’t have a Bahraini SIM card and contacting them would become difficult.

 He said he had to spend a whole night at the airport because he was not aware his guest was taken to Salmaniya Medical Complex. “I got so tensed because I had no idea what to do or what was happening,” he said. 

 Community Welfare Counsillor Maqsood Qadir Shah told DT News they were aware of the problem and were doing their best to solve the issue.

 He said the Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Saeed Khan had met the foreign minister, interior minister and the customs head to find a viable solution to the problem.

 “The ambassador has requested them to arrange for body scanning at the airport itself,” Shah said the authorities have promised the ambassador to install the scanners at the airport. “After the installation of the scanners no passenger would have to be taken to SMC,” he added.