Dutch woman with Iranian roots is banned from flying to US
Foreign affairs minister Stef Blok has been asked to explain why a Dutch woman with Iranian roots was barred from flying to the US with her friends for a short holiday during the Christmas break.
Annahita Mazaheri, who was born in the Netherlands and only has Dutch nationality, was banned from boarding a plane to Los Angeles last week by US officials stationed at Schiphol airport.
D66 parliamentarian Sjoerd Sjoerdsma wants Blok to explain what authority US immigration service officials have on Dutch soil and if they are allowed to photograph passports, as happened in the case of Mazaheri.
Belachelijk! Een Nederlandse staatsburger wordt op Schiphol door de VS uit de rij gehaald op basis van haar achternaam. Dat kan én mag niet! https://t.co/zW6qPirLpC
— Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma (@swsjoerdsma) January 13, 2020
He also wants Blok to find out why the young woman was refused leave to board the aircraft. She suspects that the current tensions between the US and Iran may be behind the move.
The Netherlands and US are currently discussing introducing formal pre-clearance facilities at Schiphol, which would allow Dutch tourists heading for the US to go through passport and customs controls in the Netherlands.
DutchNews.nl has asked the US embassy in The Hague to comment.
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