Boycott of airport over 'harassment'

MUSLIM business leaders are boycotting Glasgow airport after claiming they must endure humiliating searches by police.

They are now turning to Manchester and Heathrow airports to travel to and from Pakistan because of what they claim is "humiliating" treatment and "harassment" by anti-terrorist officials who have stopped and carried out strip-searches on them.

Community and business leaders have now met Strathclyde Police senior officials to discuss the allegations.

They say that dozens of Muslims have claimed to have been subjected to this treatment while travelling to Lahore from Glasgow since November 2005, when Pakistan Airways established the route.

Dr Mohammad Anwar, from Glasgow's Central Mosque, said that customs officers were treating Muslims like "second-class citizens".

"When you are a respectable citizen of a country and yet you find yourself being treated differently from others, it is not acceptable. It is not right that we are treated like second-class citizens," he said.

"But when you go to Manchester or Heathrow, while it's the same level of force and the same guidelines, the treatment is completely different.

"We need to find some sort of strategy for these officers so that they can do their job, which is very important, but without coming into conflict with Muslim travellers."

He added that while the community acknowledged that police officers have to carry out checks on passengers and their luggage to catch criminals, Muslim leaders claim that Asians are being singled out unfairly.

Among the incidents cited by Muslim travellers include occasions when a female officer searched one businessman's luggage in front of other passengers and then quizzed him as to why he was carrying items of women's clothing. The items had belonged to his wife.

On one occasion, the parents of an Asian businessman were told that because they had not travelled with enough money, their tourist visas were limited to just one week's stay.

Dr Anwar said that this showed a complete ignorance of Muslim culture. "When these people arrived here, they would have been looked after completely by their son and his family," he said. "It is part of Muslim tradition and the police should understand that."

Glasgow businessman Mohammad Ashref, who runs a multi-million-pound fashion supply business, says he is boycotting Glasgow airport. "It's a pity the way Glasgow airport is treating Asians at the moment," he said.

"Police officers at Manchester and London are very courteous. They ask about my business in Pakistan but in Glasgow the tone is very aggressive, the body language is confrontational. It's like an interrogation."

A police spokeswoman confirmed that senior officials had met Muslim representatives and that efforts would be made for greater religious sensitivity.

"We are looking at further training of our officers particularly at airports to raise awareness of cultural and religious sensitivities," she said.

A spokeswoman for BAA, which runs Glasgow Airport, said that they were unaware of any issue. "We have not had any complaints made to us concerning searches, but obviously we take something like this extremely seriously."