Half-naked student is locked up after Dubai airport strip-search humiliation

18 September 2023 , 05:18

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Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, was flying home to New York from Istanbul with her friend when she was detailed

A young student has been detained for more than two months after she was left half-naked and humiliated during a full body search at an airport.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, was flying home to New York from Istanbul with her friend and they were required to change flights at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on July 14.

It was here that the business arts student and retail worker was allegedly subjected to "degrading, painful and humiliating" searches. She is required to wear a medical waist trainer suit around her torso while she recovers from recent abdominal surgery in the US.

An airport security officer told her she needed to remove her waist trainer for inspection, before she was ordered into a booth with some plain-clothed female customs officers in local dress.

Elizabeth says it is impossible for her to remove the garment and re-attach it by herself. She said: "I was feeling uncomfortable and afraid. I felt really violated." The two female airport workers began removing the trainer in a "really rough" way and then refused to help her clip the device back on once they had completed their search.

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Elizabeth said she was baffled as to why she had to remove the trainer, instead of being X-rayed. She tried to reach out to the curtain to call her friend to help but one of the customs officers was standing in the way of her view. “I gently touched her arm to guide her out of the way then desperately started crying to my friend for help,” explained Elizabeth.

Elizabeth says she was left half-naked and violated during her ordeal at Dubai airport

Detained in Dubai, the human rights campaign group that is supporting Elizabeth, explained what happened next: "She was half naked, humiliated and in a state of panic and misery. The male officer responded, allowing her friend to go behind the curtain to help her dress. The search, of course, was clear but her nightmare was not over.

"Officers said Elizabeth was being detained for touching the female customs officer. She was kept in the room for several more hours while the women filed a complaint against her. Elizabeth broke down and cried, apologising for lightly touching the woman. She hadn’t hurt anyone, endanger anyone and she had already been put through a most humiliating and unnecessary process."

Elizabeth was forced to sign paperwork in Arabic before they allowed her to leave the airport. After a few hours, she returned to the airport to resume her flight to the US when she was told she had a travel ban against her.

Elizabeth now faces months in Dubai awaiting a gruelling legal process - on top of the two months she has already spent in Dubai. She was ordered by a court to pay 10,000 Arab Emirates Dirham, which amounts to about £2,197. But even after paying, Dubai officials appealed against the court's decision, which forced her to stay in the country even longer.

Appeals in Dubai courts are accepted automatically. Detained in Dubai CEO Radha Stirling said it's a tactic used by Dubai government officials to exploit tourists.

"They either want her in jail or they want to pressure her into making a compensatory payment to them”, explained Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai. “Tourists have long been exploited by locals who seek to punish and extort them as a secondary form of income. Compensating complainants only exacerbates the situation. The government of Dubai should stop this type of corruption by banning government employees from being able to accept out-of-court settlements for criminal complaints. It is too much of an incentive to people in positions of power, resulting in incidents like this which damage the reputation of the UAE as a safe transport and tourism hub."

Elizabeth’s mother has written a heartfelt letter to customs and immigration officials begging them to let her return home so she can resume her necessary medical care.

Without diplomatic intervention, Elizabeth faces months awaiting a final outcome of her trial, hefty fines and years imprisonment.

Mataeo Smith