Three Britain-born Muslims siblings were reportedly taken off an EasyJet flight to Italy after fellow passengers accused them of having "ISIS materials" on their phones. They said they were met withy "gun-wielding policemen and men in dark suits" on the ground who asked if they spoke english.
Maryam Dhara, Sakina Dharas, and their brother Ali Dharas were taken off the plane after another passenger reported seeing them with Arabic text or "praise be to Allah" on their phones and had claimed they were ISIS supporters. Maryam said, "We're told a couple had reported us having been reading ISIS materials. They said the pair of us, meaning me and my sister, had been reading ISIS material." She added, "My sister and I wear headscarves. We thought, there's clearly profiling going on here. We were just in shock. What is going on? None of us have been doing that. We're absolutely flummoxed."
Maryam told the officers that if there had been Arabic text on their phones, it was "part of the Quran, our religious text, so even if we did have it, it wouldn't signify that we're a part of ISIS at all. Regardless, we've had nothing on our phone remotely Arabic related and we're Indian by ethnicity, so we wouldn't even have Arabic in conversation with anyone." Even with all the clarifications, the 19 year old said an officer who "appeared to be an MI5 agent", asked her to "talk him through my passport, including all my pilgrimages- hajj, and, unfortunately for me, also Iraq."
The siblings claimed the officer said he had done full checks of their travel history and it had come back all clear. He allegedly also said that if anything came ue, he would be "waiting for them" when they returned. The teens were eventually allowed to go back on board with an apology for the "inconvenience". A spokesman for EasyJet said, "EasyJet can confirm that, following concerns raised by a passenger during the boarding, a member of ground staff requested the assistance of the police, who took the decision to talk to three passengers at the bottom of the aircraft steps, before departure. The police then confirmed to the captain that the passengers were cleared to complete their journey and they reboarded the aircraft and the flight departed to Naples".
Maryam said, "I would like an apology. What happened was wrong. This kind of profiling shouldn't take place. I don't want this to happen again to anyone else."
