"Report: U.K. airport staff detained white fliers to avoid bias claims"

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Report: U.K. airport staff detained white fliers to avoid bias claims
By Ben Mutzabaugh
USA TODAY
 

There's more bad press today for British airports, which already have
endured nearly a month of critical reports as the Olympics loom this summer.

The latest comes today from The Times of London, which reports:

White airline passengers are being discriminated against by border officials
fearful of being accused of race discrimination when they question black
travellers.

The newspaper says that revelation came during a government inspection at
London's Gatwick Airport, where the Times says "the tactic was being used
for flights arriving from the Caribbean."

"This involved detaining white passengers purely to avoid potential race
discrimination complaints when there was an intention to question black
passengers,' John Vine, chief inspector of the U.K. Border Agency, is quoted
by the Times as saying in a report.

The Border Agency report also found other issues. Among them: international
passengers arriving with marijuana who "were allowed into the country with a
warning even though the law says that they should be arrested," the Times
writes.

The report also was critical of immigration staffing, finding that - on
certain days - staffing increased as the number of arriving passengers
dropped but then dropped ahead of the next surge of arriving fliers.

Just last month, London Mayor Boris Johnson went public with criticism that
long delays for passengers arriving at London Heathrow were so bad that it
risked hurting Britain's reputation during the run-up to this summer's
Olympic Games.

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