On the 14 December 2022, at King Shaka International Airport, a South African religious scholar together with his wife and children enroute their Umrah Trip were not permitted to board their fight, EK776, to Medina via Dubai on Fly Emirates. The check in officer required clarification from the supervisor regarding the validity of the childrens' Unabridged Birth Certificate to which the supervisor erroneously notified the Fly Emirates check in Officer that the Unabridged Birth Certificates were invalid on account of the absence of the word 'unabridged' . (Upon consultation with the Department of Home Affairs, the next morning, it was confirmed that the family were in possession of the correct Birth Certificates i.e. Unabridged Birth Certificates, despite the absence of the word 'Unabridged')Finally, shortly before the check in counter could be closed, the officers, in a desperate attempt to get the family away, advised the family that "Go fight your case with Immigration."The Immigration officers made no request to review the unabridged Birth Certificates. An individual from the Crime Intelligence Unit was present and questioned the parent in the lines of child trafficking and the biological parentage of the children. After returning to the check-in counter, the family took a decision, that for those persons whose documents were in order, according to the requirements of the airline, to be allowed to board the flight. The request was rejected on account of the check-in counter being closed despite other passengers aboard the same flight still being checked in. The devastated and dejected family was left without any option but to return to home.After all that transpired, Fly Emirates was notified of this incident and the validation of the documents by the Department of Home Affairs and rather than accepting responsibility they fabricated a story in defense of their staff's incompetence claiming that the passengers arrived at the check-in counter with only 2 of the 5 children’s’ Unabridged Birth Certificates.
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