Four Omani girls studying in Holland were arrested, handcuffed and deported by UK Immigration and Visas after they missed their flight from Holland to UK and arrived on a different flight.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, the girls said that they were detained at London’s Stansted airport after arriving there from Eindhoven in Holland.

They had missed their flight from Eindhoven, and then managed to take another one a few hours later – however, this delay was reason enough for the immigration authorities at Stansted to be suspicious and deport them. The girls, who had planned to be in London on a short break from their studies, also claimed that they were not allowed to contact the Omani Embassy in London for assistance despite repeated requests.

Feithla and Adhraa at Stansted shortly after landing and minutes before their nightmare began

Talking about their London nightmare, Adhraa Said Hamed said, “It all started on Friday, February 13, when we missed our 8.40pm flight to London. So we took the next available flight which was at 8am the next morning. In London, the immigration official checking our papers noticed that arrival date according to the electronic visa waiver was for the previous night. We explained to him that we had missed our flight and had taken the next available flight.”

The four girls were told by immigration officer that they should have arrived within eight hours of the earlier flight. They were then asked to pick up their luggage and detained in two separate rooms where security officials proceeded to search them and their luggage. They were fingerprinted, photographed and told that they were to be deported on the next available flight back to their port of origin, according to Feithla Faisal al Abdul Salam, another of the detained girls.

“We asked to call our embassy but the immigration official said that the situation had nothing to do with the embassy. He later told us that two of our friends would be sent back on the 12.40pm flight. There were no more seats available that day and Adhraa and I would have to wait till 8.30am the next day (February 15),” she added.

“Adhraa and I said we would pay for a flight back to any city in Holland. But the officer in charge said that we would have to go back to the same port that we had departed from and using the same airline that we arrived on,” she explained.

“We slept on the chairs in the detention room for the next 20 hours. Feithla needed to take her medication, however, they would not let her have her medicines. The next day, security officials came to take us to the detention facility at the Immigration Removal Center. They handcuffed us and took us through the airport to the van as if we were criminals,” Adhraa added.

“Just imagine the image of two covered Arab girls handcuffed, grabbed by the arm and walked through the airport! Everyone was just looking at us. Just imagining what was going through their minds was horrible for me. I felt so violated,” she added.

On reaching the detention facility, the girls were again searched, along with their bags, and their pictures and fingerprints taken. “We had a nurse come in and ask us if we needed anything, but nothing was of help by that time. Once all the paperwork was completed, we were sent back to our detention rooms, before being driven back to the airport after a couple of hours,” said Adhraa.

“Even the officers at the facility thought that we were being held for a silly reason and that it was totally unnecessary for the immigration official at the airport to send us to the detention centre,” added Feithla.

“Immigration officers who were waiting for us in the Netherlands were also very surprised about the reason for which we were sent back and the treatment we received from the immigration department in the UK. We felt very violated. Even if the UK officer decided to send us back, there was no need to handcuff us and deport us as if we were violent criminals.”

“Every time I think of the reason that all of this happened, I just start laughing at how stupid it was. Oman and the UK are supposed to have good relations. The e-visa was supposed to make things easier and smoother. But that was not the case in our situation,” she said.

Naila Hamdoon, Adhraa’s mother told Muscat Daily that she was very concerned about the whereabouts of the girls. “This is very bad of the London airport authorities that they did not even give the girls access to their phones. I was so worried about my daughter and her friends. We did not know their whereabouts after they left Holland. At least the authorities should have given them a chance to inform us,” she said.

UK Visas and Immigration officials at Stansted airport refused to comment on the case when contacted by Muscat Daily .

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