28 March 2012
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USA vetting
French pilots and cabin crew from Muslim countries
Air France pilots and cabin crew born in Muslim countries with
French nationality are being subjected to a "one-to-one
interview" with an agent from the US Transportation Security
Agency (TSA). Some 324 employees are affected and say they are
being treated like "terrorist suspects" on arrival
at US airports and if necessary can be forced to return to France.
The crew and staff being targeted are those from Algeria, Morocco,
Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Indonesia and Egypt. Philippe
Decrulle, the Deputy Secretary of the CFDT-Air France union said
that all crew have a Type B professional visa (allowing for multiple
entry) which means that they have already undergone detailed
checks.
US authorities say "foreign-born crew members" should not be sent to Cincinnati because there is nowhere to carry out security vetting. A French, Moroccan born, stewardess who flew to the city was prevented from leaving, driven eight hours to Atlanta - nearly 500 miles away - and forced to fly back as an ordinary passenger.
Edward Hasbrouck comments: "If an airline or company based in the USA did that, it would constitute illegal discrimination based on national origin."
1. http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/000116.html
2. "French
fury over US treatment of air staff" Daily Telegraph,
18.1.04.
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