IMPACT ON SIKHS OF EU REGULATION ON SCREENING OF PASSENGERS AT AIRPORTS

That this House notes that European Commission Regulation No. 185/2010 came into effect on 29 April 2010 and that it requires hand searches and discourages the use of hand-held metal detectors if walk-through metal detectors suggest a passenger may be carrying a prohibited article; notes with concern that this presents a major difficulty for turban-wearing Sikhs, as walk-through metal detectors will almost always go off due to pins in the turban; further notes that the Regulation is being interpreted as requiring hand searches of the Sikh turban, which is regarded as being insensitive towards Sikhs and which will become an issue of considerable concern within the Sikh community from 1 July 2010 when the new policy is implemented at Heathrow Airport; recognises that the Regulation allows for the appropriate authority to create categories of passengers that, for objective reasons, shall be subject to special screening procedures or may be exempted from screening; urges the Secretary of State for Transport to consider making those wearing Sikh turbans exempt from hand searches and subject only to walk-through metal detectors and hand-held metal detectors; further notes that practising Sikh passengers have the right to wear a small Kirpan with a blade of up to six centimetres as specified by the new Regulation; and, as the Regulation applies across Europe, requests that the Department for Transport obtains letters from the governments of other EU countries to ensure that British Sikhs have the same rights when flying elsewhere in Europe as they do in the UK under this Regulation.