Stop humiliating me, traveller pleads

Abraham Alawi is fed up with airport interrogation. Photo / Dean Purcell

A New Zealand citizen of Middle Eastern origin says he is humiliated and discriminated against by Customs officials at Auckland Airport who interrogate and search him every time he returns home from overseas because his surname is similar to one on their watchlist.

Abraham Alawi, 26, who has lived here for nearly six years and works in the IT department at Auckland University, says the latest incident happened last Friday when he was returning home from a visit to Melbourne. He was met at the luggage claim section by a Customs officer and directed to the intensive inspection lane.

It had happened three times before but was the first since he became a New Zealand citizen in March last year.

"I wasn't expecting that ... but I was wrong and this was the worst of them all. It was like he (the Customs officer) recognised my face. When I went to stamp my passport he said the computer had frozen and I had to wait, but I think he was waiting for someone."

When he asked the officer why he was being questioned, he was told it was because of his last name.

"I told him my name is actually very common in the Middle East. But I have lived in New Zealand for many years and have clear records.

"I would expect such things in a Middle Eastern country being run by a dictator, or the United States under the Bush Administration, not New Zealand," he added.

"You are left feeling like an animal. I felt like I was going to have a breakdown."

"Would I had been treated better if I was blond and my last name was Smith? Is it because I'm a Muslim and Middle Eastern I get treated like a litterbug just because of my last name? Don't all those years of good conduct and service in NZ count?"

Mr Alawi shortened his first name to Abraham when he came to New Zealand from Bahrain and told Customs he would have changed his surname too if he knew it would cause so many problems.

Mr Alawi said he understood Customs had a job to do and were trying to protect the country, but he was "humiliated and disgraced" every time he came home to a country he was proud of. Mr Alawi said he had only had a couple of parking tickets since he first came to New Zealand in 2002.

His laptop was taken after he said they could not open it and look at the files stored. Mr Alawi said he could understand why they wanted to physically search it but his interpretation of Customs rules was only tangible goods - not information - could be searched.

He planned to lodge a formal complaint to Customs, tell the Privacy Commissioner and consult a human rights lawyer.

Firoz Patel, secretary of the Ponsonby Mosque and part of the New Zealand Muslim Association, asked why Customs couldn't use other avenues, like Internal Affairs, now Mr Alawi is a citizen.

A Customs spokesman invited Mr Alawi to make a complaint and promised it would be followed up and dealt with promptly. He said that was the fastest way to get to the bottom of the problem.