A French mother, who was flying to New York via Switzerland for a holiday with her husband and two children, was denied entry to the US because her name ‘sounds like Al Qaeda’.
Aida Alic arrived at Geneva airport on Wednesday, preparing to board a connecting flight to JFK with her family, when officials told her that she’d been denied access to the US.
When the 33-year old returned home from the airport after cancelling her trip, she started googling for answers when she realized her name appears surname first on her passport and reads ‘Alic Aida’.
In an interview with French news website Dauphine Libere, Alic said:
“When friends make the play on words to wind me up, I am used to it, but not this. Especially as my name is pronounced Alitch. It is of Yugoslav origin.
“And now here I am labelled as a risk.”
The US no-fly list has been accused of religious and racial profiling and discrimination.
Although The US embassy in Paris said it does not comment on individual cases of people being denied access to the US, over 21,000 names have been listed as denied entry.
