SA group grilled on M-E ties
2006-09-03 22:25
Charles Smith
Washington - A group of South Africans working on passenger ships in the Caribbean, have been grilled by United States immigration officials about ties with the Middle East.
Most of them are Afrikaans-speaking and have never been to the Middel East.
The group of about 30 South Africans were disembarking with passengers in Miami on Saturday when they were "hauled" out of the queue.
One of the group says they were questioned for more than four hours. No reasons were given for why the US officials had singled them out.
"There's something strange about it all. It's ugly," said a Free State woman who was in the group.
They didn't want to be identified for fear that they might lose their jobs.
Only SA crew questioned
The woman said their travel documents were in order. They wouldn't have got the jobs if their US visas hadn't been approved, she added.
The woman suspects that it didn't have anything to do with their documents.
"Although there are many foreigners among the crew, only the South Africans were questioned.
"And, we had to wait for hours.
"They wanted to know whether we'd been to the Middle East or had any ties with the Middle East.
"They even wanted our parents' names and contact details."
- Beeld