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rfmcdonaldFrom the Toronto Star:
Islamic groups are calling for an inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of a Toronto woman in a Scottish airport cell that caused her to miscarry her baby.
Marina Miraj, 30, a Canadian of Afghan descent, arrived at Glasgow International Airport Feb. 24 to visit her husband, a refugee living in Scotland.
Three months pregnant, Miraj says she was detained and questioned by immigration officials and left in a cell as she complained of pains. After more than two hours, immigration officers found she had fainted and rushed her to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in nearby Paisley.
The woman, whose two brothers and sister live in the Toronto area, was kept for observation for two days and continues to get treatment. But she isn't well enough to return home yet.
[. . .]
The brother, who spoke to Marina yesterday, said she was confused by the British immigration officials' initial questions. She told them she planned to stay in Britain, but didn't tell them that it was only for three months — the length of time her Toronto doctor had told her it was safe to stay away.
Her Canadian passport, citizenship card and belongings were confiscated. She was then questioned — and mocked — by three female immigration officials who laughed at her answers, her brother said.
"They asked her lots of questions. She said to me, `I was scared, I didn't know what they wanted,'" Ashoor Miraj said.
After Miraj collapsed in detention, "a doctor came and said her blood pressure was very high," her brother said. "They took her to hospital and checked her and told her that her baby was gone."
[. . .]
Miraj married her husband in Pakistan about a year ago and is said to be keen to live in Scotland with him.
"The last time she had visited there was no problem," Asif said.
But this time, "they were asking, `what are you doing here' and `you should not be coming because you're not able to stay with your husband.'
"Any Canadian citizen is allowed to visit Britain for six months. If they don't stop others, then why did they stop her?"
