Muslim MSP angry about ‘skin colour’ airport check

Chief Scottish Political Correspondent

Saturday 30 July 2011

AN MSP has become the latest Muslim to be caught up by airport security checks while returning from holiday.

IRE: Humza Yousaf and wife Gail Lythgoe were taken aside at Edinburgh Airport. Picture: Allan Milligan STORM: How The Herald reported the Muslim boycott of Glasgow Airport. Kenny MacAskill says Section 7 of Terrorism Act is a vital tool in fighting a global threat.

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ROBBIE DINWOODIE CHIEF SCOTTISH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

The use of Schedule 7 checks under the Terrorism Act had so angered Muslims recently they threatened to boycott Glasgow Airport in favour of flying through Manchester to avoid perceived harassment.

Glasgow MSP Humza Yousaf was selected from among returning passengers at Edinburgh Airport while coming back from holiday with his wife Gail Lythgoe.

The SNP MSP stressed he was not seeking special treatment just because he was an elected public figure, but he said it demonstrated Schedule 7 stops had no basis in terms of security or intelligence and were based simply on skin colour.“I was stopped coming into Edinburgh Airport returning with my wife from a break in Istanbul via Charles de Gaulle in Paris, our first holiday since our honeymoon a year ago.“We were pulled aside, our passports were screened under Schedule 7 and we were asked where we had been and why we were there. It is the fourth or fifth time this has happened to me, but the first since I was married last year.“My wife felt humiliated and I felt angry at this. Coming into Edinburgh Airport you should be thinking about whether your luggage is there rather than this kind of thing.”He added: “The problem is that under Schedule 7 they don’t even have to have reasonable suspicion to stop you. It’s a shame. This is my home, my country. It’s where I was born, and I hope I would have a history of public service.“I don’t expect any preferential treatment from anyone else, but this demonstrates there is clearly no intelligence involved whatsoever, nothing other than the colour of your skin or the flight you are on. No-one else was stopped on our flight, so far as I could tell. I am not saying this is racist. It’s just that it isn’t led by good intelligence.”Earlier this month Muslims threatened to boycott Glasgow Airport because of perceived harassment from counter-terrorism officers.The allegations were made at a public meeting called to discuss concerns held by parts of the Asian community that powers held by police, ports and immigration officials to question travellers at travel hubs were abused, with travellers singled out solely on the basis of their race or skin colour.Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill told around 70 people at Pollokshields Burgh Hall in Glasgow that Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 was a necessary tool in fighting global terrorism. He admitted there had been occasions when the powers had been used inappropriately, but said it was not deliberately used to target people because of their ethnicity.Lawyer Aamer Anwar said some Muslims had become so disillusioned at the way they were treated at Glasgow Airport they decided to take their business south of the Border.He said he would challenge police to deliver statistics on how much counter-terrorism intelligence had been delivered as a result of questioning travellers at the airport.He said: “The questions are offensive, rude and intimidating in the way they are carried out.”Muslims boycott airportBlogger Hamira Khan: I am a Glasgow-based Muslim and ethnic minorities should stop moaning about extra airport checks

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Muslim MSP angry about ‘skin colour’ airport check

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