Elizabeth, a 21-year-old female college student in the United States, faces jail. (Picture/reproduced from Twitter)
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, a 21-year-old female college student from the United States, was taken to a “small room” by Dubai airport staff when she and her friends were transiting in the United Arab Emirates in July and forced to take off her top for inspection. During the process, he “lightly touched” the arm of a female customs officer, and was banned from leaving the country by the authorities to this day. He also faces a huge fine and several years in prison.
According to the “Mirror” report, Elizabeth was taken to a small room by two female customs officers because she was wearing a pressure corset for waist therapy after abdominal surgery. After that, they took off the corset in a very rough and degrading way, and she was forced to be half-naked. She showed off her posture and refused to help her put on a corset that “cannot be put on and taken off by one person” after customs inspection. Elizabeth alleged in the letter that the process made her very uncomfortable and scared, and she felt that she had been violated, so she hoped to ask friends traveling outside the curtain to help.
However, in order to peek outside the curtain, Elizabeth tried to use a light touch of her arm to signal the customs officer who was blocking her view to move away. As a result, she continued to be detained in a small room for several hours, causing Elizabeth to collapse and cry out to her friends for help. Elizabeth continued to apologize, emphasizing that she had no intention of hurting anyone. Although she was allowed to leave the airport, when she returned a few hours later to take a flight back to the United States, she was told that there were restrictions on leaving the country and she could not leave Dubai.
Human rights groups that are helping Elizabeth say this is a tactic used by the United Arab Emirates to exploit tourists. Elizabeth was allowed to leave after being forced to sign a document in Arabic, but was later detained even though she was ordered by the court to pay 1 million Arab dirhams (approximately NT$87,000), she has still been detained despite being appealed. Human rights organizations have pointed out that without diplomatic intervention, Elizabeth will face a huge fine and several years in prison.
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2023-09-18 11:31:15
