- PARIS -- In the latest bout
of Franco-American squabbling, hundreds of Air France pilots and cabin
crew who have French nationality but were born in Muslim countries are
furious at being singled out for stringent security measures when they
land in the US.
-
- Some of the 324 affected employees complain that they
were treated like "terrorist suspects" after being separated
from fellow cabin crew and grilled for up to four hours by security agents
on arrival at American airports. The treatment, they say, was "discriminatory
and insulting".
-
- The security measures are outlined in a directive from
the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), one of a raft of institutions
created by President Bush in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks.
It targets crew born in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria,
Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and Egypt - countries which the American authorities
regard as particularly dangerous sources of terrorists.
-
- The directive stated that the targeted crew would be
required to undergo a one-to-one interview with an agent from the TSA.
If necessary, it continued, they would be forced to return to France. The
directive also advises Air France not to use the foreign-born crew members
on flights to Cincinnati because airport staff there lack the facilities
needed to conduct the security interviews.
-
- One Moroccan-born stewardess who flew into the city was
prevented from leaving when officials could not conduct her interview.
Instead, she was driven for eight hours to Atlanta, nearly 500 miles away,
and forced to fly back to France as an ordinary passenger.
-
- Guillaume Pollard, an Air France pilot, said that even
crew unaffected by the tightened security measures were considering boycotting
flights to America in protest at the measures.
-
- He said: "We all condemn this action against our
colleagues. I am outraged by the measure. All the personnel concerned are
French, even if they were born elsewhere. Some of them are from French
parents but were born abroad. This is racial discrimination."
-
- Although the directive has been issued to all European
airlines, including British Airways, it has caused particular fury among
crew in France where it is seen as the latest blow to US-French relations
since Paris opposed military action in Iraq.
-
- The French were irritated when America caused the cancellation
of three Air France flights to America over Christmas, citing security
fears.
-
- Marc Allot, an Air France union representative, said:
"When I heard about this directive I couldn't believe it, but the
company is doing nothing. Perhaps there are strategic, political and commercial
concerns, but we shouldn't accept such shameful discrimination."
-
- Philippe Decrulle, deputy secretary general of the CFDT-Air
France union, said that strong action was needed. "The crew affected
by these measures have flown regularly to the United States for years.
All of them have a Type B professional visa which means that they have
already undergone detailed checks. Why make them go through it all again?"
-
- A spokesman for Air France said that it had lodged an
official complaint over the measures, but recognised that "the American
authorities have sovereignty over their own territory".
-
- After receiving complaints from Air France crew, however,
the French pressure group Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between
Peoples (MRAP) said that it was investigating whether legal action could
be taken against the US for racial discrimination.
-
- It called on the French government, which has declined
to comment on the directive, to condemn the American action.
-
- BA has given staff from the countries in question the
option of not flying to American destinations.
-
- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
-
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$ZPD5EFG3KISA3QFIQMG
CFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2004/01/18/wfly18.xml&sSheet=/
portal/2004/01/18/ixportal.html
|