Sisters Maryam, 19, and Sakina Dharas, 24, and their brother Ali, 21, had taken their seats on the flight from London Gatwick to Naples when they were escorted out of the plane in front of other passengers.
Three British siblings were removed from an easyJet flight after fellow passengers wrongly accused them of 'reading ISIS material'.
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The trio, who are of Indian heritage but were born and raised in London, were questioned on the runway by armed police officers for an hour before being allowed back on the plane.
Maryam and Sakina, who were wearing headscarves, were told a couple had reported them for 'reading ISIS materials' and said they had the phrase 'praise be to God' on their phones.
Sakina Dharas shared the experience on her Facebook Page in details. Read here:
"So I've been waiting for my sister, definitely the more articulate and well versed of the two of us, to write a more sound and likely witty summary of what happened to us on a recent trip to Europe, but I feel the urge to share this myself to see if anyone has gone through anything similar and to rant/vent/blow off some much needed flipping railway train-worthy steam.
So the story begins at 5am on a typically chilly, windy summer's morning in London. My younger brother, sister and I are are boarding a plane on our way to a much needed weekend getaway in Europe. We've passed the 'random checks' at the airport, got through the 'seat mixup' at the Gate, and have just eased ourselves into our seats, when a stone-faced air hostess approaches us, and with one gnarly finger, beckons for us to follow her.
My brother, thinking she means for only me to follow, and assuming it's in regards to our seating, immediately asks if he may go, to which she sharply responds, 'you're all to follow me'. With no further information, leaving us absolutely clueless as to what's going on, we get up awkwardly, follow her down the cabin towards the cockpit, and then bizarrely make a sharp left at the exit where she leads us off the aircraft onto the steel pull down steps.
'There,' she tells us, pointing down at the Tarmac, where gun-wielding policemen and men in suits are standing, awaiting our descent. 'They want to see you'.
Honestly at this point, my mind freezes, and Kim K crying face springs to action. 'What the hell is going on?' We begin to descend the steps, and as we do, are met with the first question, initiating this bizarre and incredulous episode. 'Do you speak English?' Mind laughter. 'We only speak English, officer. We were born and bred in England.'
'Right, we have to speak with you. A passenger on your flight has claimed that you three are members of ISIS.' 5am timing and running on 2 hours sleep is definitely not helping the surreal nature of this episode, and we all jaw drop in disbelief in response to the statement. 'What?!' I exclaim. 'They saw you with Arabic or praise be to Allah on your phone,' the officer responds immediately.
'Firstly, that's part of the Qur'an, our religious text, so even if we did have it, it wouldn't signify that we're a part of ISIS at all, but regardless, we've had nothing on our phone remotely Arabic related this morning. Also, we're Indian by ethnicity, so we wouldn't even have Arabic in conversation with anyone.'
The last portion is met with shock, followed by even more disbelief when my brother explains how we ourselves have volunteered in orphanages of victims of ISIS, during pilgrimages abroad. It is visibly clear that the officers and agents immediately relax at the sound of this, but nevertheless proceed with questioning us on our jobs, parents' names, home addresses, workplaces, and all our personal details as well as any and all social media we have (add me on insta babes).
To make matters even more delightful, the MI5 agent, yes I can't believe I'm writing these words and they're not part of my childhood Anthony Horowitz book series, asks me to talk him through my passport, including all my pilgrimages; hajj, and, unfortunately for me, also Iraq, and informs me he has already done checks as soon as the allegation was made and that we all came through clear.
'Why are you taking all these details from me then?' 'Oh be sure that I'll be doing more research on you, and if anything comes back, I'll be here waiting on your return,' he warns with a serious tone, which to be honest I can't take seriously at all, from a man who is jotting down my information in a 1970s Columbo-style notebook whilst unbeknownst to him, little leaves of said notebook are flying off into the wind. Don't be fooled, there's no hi-tech iPad sending info direct to HQ. Sad times guys, cuts are affecting us all #saveourMI5.
This questioning lasts about an hour, and definitely includes absolute babble from me about how I work for the NHS, how I couldn't possibly be more British and hardly even affiliate with any other culture let alone TERRORIST ORGANISATION?!
The MI5 and police officers apologise for the 'inconvenience' (see: embarrassment, humiliation, total disregard for any thought of racial profiling on the part of the accusatory party) and assure us that, at a time where we are all 'on edge', they have to respond to threats such as these, and that the accusers were very 'frightened'.
"So I've been waiting for my sister, definitely the more articulate and well versed of the two of us, to write a more sound and likely witty summary of what happened to us on a recent trip to Europe, but I feel the urge to share this myself to see if anyone has gone through anything similar and to rant/vent/blow off some much needed flipping railway train-worthy steam.
So the story begins at 5am on a typically chilly, windy summer's morning in London. My younger brother, sister and I are are boarding a plane on our way to a much needed weekend getaway in Europe. We've passed the 'random checks' at the airport, got through the 'seat mixup' at the Gate, and have just eased ourselves into our seats, when a stone-faced air hostess approaches us, and with one gnarly finger, beckons for us to follow her.
My brother, thinking she means for only me to follow, and assuming it's in regards to our seating, immediately asks if he may go, to which she sharply responds, 'you're all to follow me'. With no further information, leaving us absolutely clueless as to what's going on, we get up awkwardly, follow her down the cabin towards the cockpit, and then bizarrely make a sharp left at the exit where she leads us off the aircraft onto the steel pull down steps.
'There,' she tells us, pointing down at the Tarmac, where gun-wielding policemen and men in suits are standing, awaiting our descent. 'They want to see you'.
Honestly at this point, my mind freezes, and Kim K crying face springs to action. 'What the hell is going on?' We begin to descend the steps, and as we do, are met with the first question, initiating this bizarre and incredulous episode. 'Do you speak English?' Mind laughter. 'We only speak English, officer. We were born and bred in England.'
'Right, we have to speak with you. A passenger on your flight has claimed that you three are members of ISIS.' 5am timing and running on 2 hours sleep is definitely not helping the surreal nature of this episode, and we all jaw drop in disbelief in response to the statement. 'What?!' I exclaim. 'They saw you with Arabic or praise be to Allah on your phone,' the officer responds immediately.
'Firstly, that's part of the Qur'an, our religious text, so even if we did have it, it wouldn't signify that we're a part of ISIS at all, but regardless, we've had nothing on our phone remotely Arabic related this morning. Also, we're Indian by ethnicity, so we wouldn't even have Arabic in conversation with anyone.'
The last portion is met with shock, followed by even more disbelief when my brother explains how we ourselves have volunteered in orphanages of victims of ISIS, during pilgrimages abroad. It is visibly clear that the officers and agents immediately relax at the sound of this, but nevertheless proceed with questioning us on our jobs, parents' names, home addresses, workplaces, and all our personal details as well as any and all social media we have (add me on insta babes).
To make matters even more delightful, the MI5 agent, yes I can't believe I'm writing these words and they're not part of my childhood Anthony Horowitz book series, asks me to talk him through my passport, including all my pilgrimages; hajj, and, unfortunately for me, also Iraq, and informs me he has already done checks as soon as the allegation was made and that we all came through clear.
'Why are you taking all these details from me then?' 'Oh be sure that I'll be doing more research on you, and if anything comes back, I'll be here waiting on your return,' he warns with a serious tone, which to be honest I can't take seriously at all, from a man who is jotting down my information in a 1970s Columbo-style notebook whilst unbeknownst to him, little leaves of said notebook are flying off into the wind. Don't be fooled, there's no hi-tech iPad sending info direct to HQ. Sad times guys, cuts are affecting us all #saveourMI5.
This questioning lasts about an hour, and definitely includes absolute babble from me about how I work for the NHS, how I couldn't possibly be more British and hardly even affiliate with any other culture let alone TERRORIST ORGANISATION?!
The MI5 and police officers apologise for the 'inconvenience' (see: embarrassment, humiliation, total disregard for any thought of racial profiling on the part of the accusatory party) and assure us that, at a time where we are all 'on edge', they have to respond to threats such as these, and that the accusers were very 'frightened'.
What kills me after all of this is when sanity washes over like a cold bucket of ice. What are my rights? We would only have been allowed back on the plane if there wasn't a shred of doubt on their part, so someone must be the liar here, in which case, why were those passengers not removed for wasting police time, LYING, making false allegations and racial profiling? (it's relevant to mention that my white-skinned, green-eyed brother didn't get accused by the two, only myself and my hijab clad sister, because they conveniently didn't realise he was with us). Sigh."
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EasyJet has apologised to the siblings for the inconvenience.
A spokesman said: 'A member of ground staff requested the assistance of the police who took the decision to talk to three passengers at the bottom of the aircraft steps, before departure.
'The police then confirmed to the Captain that the passengers were cleared to complete their journey and they re-boarded the aircraft and the flight departed to Naples.
'The safety and security of its passengers and crew is our highest priority which means that if a security concern is raised we will always investigate it as a precautionary measure.
'We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the passengers.'
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