VIEWPOINT
Publish Date: Saturday,12 March, 2011, at 12:16 PM Doha Time
Profiling not an efficient way of stopping crime
Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble hit the nail on the head when he said
that the practice of profiling travellers at airports was based on prejudice
rather than any scientific evidence. Noble, of African American-German
heritage, was careful in choosing his words in an interview with the Gulf Times
on Thursday, but nevertheless left no doubt about what he meant.
Racial, religious and ethnic profiling is a common practice at international
borders, with travellers especially of African, Arab or Asian origins, subject
to special attention by immigration officials."Profiling is generally based on
prejudice and not objectively verifiable data," the Stanford Law School
graduate and the first American to head the global police body told the Gulf
Times.
Countless high-profile cases where top businessmen, world famous movie stars
and politicians have been detained and harassed just because of their physical
appearance have been reported in the recent past. Who can forget the experience
of Indian heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan who was interrogated for several hours at a
US airport some years ago despite being a frequent traveller?
Muslims sporting beards and Sikhs wearing turbans have also had humiliating
experiences at Western airports despite carrying valid travel documents and
being well-respected in their fields.
The case of the Indian ambassador in the United States Meera Shankar being
pulled from an airport security line and patted down by an agent in Mississippi
is another high-profile instance. Why did it happen to her? Because she was
wearing a sari!
The incident occurred on December 4 last year at the Jackson- Evers
International Airport where was about to board a flight to Baltimore after
attending a programme at the Mississippi State University. Shankar presented
her diplomatic papers to officers and was escorted by a Mississippi Development
Authority representative and an airport security officer where she was
subjected to a hands-on search.
She was taken to a VIP waiting room despite being told she was an ambassador
and patted down by a woman Transportation Security Administration agent. Khan
went on to make a highly successful movie titled My Name is Khan based on his
and others' experiences in the US as the backdrop for good measure - but it's
unlikely the practice will ever be eliminated completely.
Noble, who himself has been subject to special treatment several times, was of
the opinion that border officials should make it a point to check every
passenger's passport against the Interpol's extensive database of stolen or
altered travel papers.
A whopping 40,000 cases of fraudulently obtained passports or other travel
documents were detected from the nearly 500mn passports checked against the
Interpol registry last year. The procedure takes a few seconds and is highly
reliable compared to profiling which is based on race, religion, ethnicity or
even clothing. It's something every country should implement.
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