12-year-old girl says Air Canada made her remove hijab in public before boarding flight

Fatima Abdelrahman says she asked to remove her headscarf in private, but was refused

Air Canada to lay off more than 5,100 employees. AFP

A Canadian airline has been told it must do better after it allegedly forced a young girl to remove her hijab in public, despite her already going through airport security screening.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Francisco has filed a complaint with Air Canada after 13-year-old Fatima Abdelrahman says was told to take her headscarf off by a male Air Canada gate agent, who questioned her because she was not wearing one in her passport photo.

Abdelrahman told the HuffPost Canada that she asked to take her scarf off in a private screening area in front of a female member of staff but was refused. Instead, she says she was made to remove the scarf in a tunnel as other passengers were passing.

"It's wrong and I don't think anyone wearing any type of religious headpiece or any type of religious clothing at all should go through a selective type of discrimination," Abdelrahman told the HuffPost.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has since issued Air Canada a list of demands, asking the airline to “immediate policy changes prohibiting discrimination and harassment of Air Canada customers based on their purported race, national origin, and religion amongst others.”

The official complaint accuses the airline of handling Abdelrahman’s request for privacy with a “flippant and callous attitude”. According to the official website of the Department of Homeland Security, TSA agents responsible for screening procedures are required to accommodate all private screening requests.

Abdelrahman, who is a member of the US national junior squash team, was 12 when the incident occurred in August. She was travelling from California to a tournament in Toronto. She said she was scared and worried, and complied with the demands so as to not hold up her teammates.

Abdelrahman’s older sister Sabreen later Tweeted the airline to demand an explanation.

“@AirCanada pls explain why you pulled aside my 12yr old sister for flight 758 making her take off her hijab AT THE GATE?? AFTER she already passed security??” she wrote. “Thx for ruining her experience as the first U.S. National Team Squash player in Hijab + her first time traveling alone.” [sic]

The airline replied to say: “Hello Sabreen, we are truly sorry to hear about this situation and we certainly understand your concerns. May you please DM us your daughter’s booking reference so we can better follow-up?”

The Abdelrahman family have since instructed legal representation and are exploring options, “including filing a lawsuit”.

 The National has reached out to Air Canada for comment.