World News @lemmy.ml NightOwl @lemm.ee 8 mo. ago

MP stopped from boarding Air Canada flight as ‘his name was Mohammad’

www.theguardian.com MP stopped from boarding Air Canada flight as ‘his name was Mohammad’

Commons hears how Labour’s Mohammad Yasin was taken aside at Heathrow and Toronto despite travelling on official business

27 comments

It doesn't matter what color your skin is, what your name is, or what your religion is. Air Canada will still treat you like shit.
- Until last year I'd never even heard of Air Canada, and now every time anybody mentions them all I hear is how terrible they are.
  
  As a Canadian, I'd just like to say Air Canada makes BA look like a luxury airline.
The title is a bit clickbaity. He wasn’t stopped from boarding, he had to go through additional security checks. He claims he was told he had to go through the checks because his name was Mohammad… although that’s just him saying that.

I live in UK and I’d say around 50% of the flights I’ve taken to/from US I’ve been pulled aside for extra checks. Many times both on the way out and way back for a 100% check rate on that single trip.

If they did actually say it was due to his name being Mohammad then yeah that’s really bad, but this sounds like they’re making something of nothing. And at no point was he stopped from boarding.
- They could have done it because of his name, but just not admitted it, or given no reason at all. Systemic racism is hard to prove, which means it can be remarkably persistent
  
  As someone who looks exactly like the people they should stop and who flew our of Boston after 9/11, I doubt it, I haven't had much more than a few shabby things and they go through all my electronics.
  
  Best guess he rolled a 1 when it came to random searches and he reacted poorly.
FYI Mohammed is the third most popular name on the planet
- And by no means unheard of in Canada
- Wait I thought it was the most popular first name?
  
  Maria 2. Nushi 3. Mohammed
- So you're saying that the third largest group of criminals in the world are named Mohammad? /s
It was completely unacceptable for a ~~member of this house~~ human being to be treated in this way.

In absolutely no context does the name your parents gave you correlate to whether or not you're a terrorist.
- I think the problem is terrorist watch lists based only on first/last name combos. If you have a common name, particularly a male Middle Eastern name, then your name is likely shared by someone on a terrorism watch list.
  
  The problem is that means these people are harassed every time they try to travel. We need at least one other piece of identifying information, not just first/last, so it's quick to exclude all the false positives.
you heard it here first, if you ever hear of a dude called John you perform a citizens arrest, because that motherfucker did some shit
This is the best summary I could come up with:

An MP was stopped from boarding a flight to Canada with other members of parliament “because his name was Mohammad”, the Commons heard on Monday.

Mohammad Yasin, Labour’s MP for Bedford, was due to fly to Canada with other MPs from the Commons levelling up, housing and communities committee when he was delayed for questioning “for a considerable period” at airports in both countries last week.

Clive Betts, the chair of the committee, said the incident was unacceptable because of its “racist and Islamophobic nature”, and that he would write to the Canadian high commissioner in the UK.

Yasin then underwent similar questioning from officials on his return trip to the UK, MPs were told.

On return at Toronto airport on the way back, he was again challenged and got on his flight with the assistance of my consul general, who was very helpful.”

The deputy speaker Roger Gale replied: “I am sure that the whole house will share the dismay at the treatment of the member for Bedford.

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