Bahrain detention reminder

Press, 1 February 1986, Page 9

Bahrain detention reminder

Reports of an Auckland woman and . her sons being detained at Bahrain Airport because of Israeli stamps in their passports reminded a Christchurch couple of a similar experience they had last September. i

Mr Douglas Fairbank and Mrs Monica Fairbank, a retired couple from Huntsbury, were given one hour to leave Bahrain when they arrived on a British Airways flight at Bahrain Airport about 2 a.m. on September 10. / The reason the airport officials gave was that the

couple’s passports showed they had visited Israel four years before. Mrs Fairbank said no flights were available from the airport to enable them to leave the country in the time given. They had planned to stay two nights before travelling on to join a tour into China. The couple had been told to visit the Bahrain Embassy in London to get visas for their visit. At the embassy they were told they would get 72-hour visitor visas when they arrived at Bahrain Airport. No-one at the em-

bassy told them they could not go to Bahrain if they had previously visited Israel. After they were told at the airport they had to leave, the couple, both aged 65, spoke to officials

of British Airways. They spent the night in a lounge at the airport until they could get in touch with the New Zealand Embassy in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, later that morning. Mrs Fairbank said Mr Nigel Alderdice, from the embassy, went to the airport. He asked if the couple had any spare

passport photographs. They did, and he took these away to have new passports issued. He gave them the new passports as well as their old cancelled ones. After discussions with

immigration officials, Mr and Mrs Fairbank were allowed to stay, mainly because of their age and Mrs Fairbank’s ill health. They used the new passports, with no mention of Israel, while they were in Bahrain, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of their stay, Mrs Fairbank said.

She said she felt that travellers visiting Arab countries should be told that if they had visited Israel, they would not be allowed into ‘ Bahrain if their passports showed this. Refusing visitors who have visited Israel is only part of the Bahraini policy. Officials also vet films. Any films with members of the production team who are Jewish or of Jewish descent are not shown. The P.L.O. has a branch office in a suburb of Manama.