As activists, we are not strangers to harassment by the governments we confront and their supporters. It is an occupational hazard that we all accept, although it is an uncomfortable reality. Recently I was subject to a particular distressing form of what I believe was harassment by the Dutch government.
On August 9th, 2013, I embarked on Ukraine International flight PS 0102 from Amsterdam to Kiev, and consequentially on Ukraine International flight PS 0715 from Kiev to Istanbul Ataturk Airport. I undertook this journey with an Italian ID Card (Carta d'Identitá). As Turkey and Italy have an arrangement which allows Italian citizens to travel to Turkey with only such a card, and I was only transiting in Kiev, my journey was rightfully uneventful.
Following an enjoyable stay in Istanbul during which I had the pleasure to meet some remarkable activists, publishers and community leaders, I embarked upon my return home on Saturday, August 17th, 2013. I boarded Ukraine International flight PS 0712 from Istanbul and arrived in Kiev. I successfully went through the transit desk where I was asked for my identity document and issued a boarding pass for my next intended flight (Ukraine International PS 9386) to return to the Netherlands, where I am currently enrolled in higher education studies. This process was handled by a third-party company on behalf of the two airlines.
I proceeded to make my way to the gate and as I was standing in line to board the flight, the lady who initially produced my boarding pass came running and asked to see my documents once more. I handed her my Italian ID card, she told me to wait at the gate, and ran off with it. After about 10-15 minutes, as the boarding was nearly complete, she returned and informed me that I could not board the flight. I asked for an explanation and they refused to provide me with one, simply telling me that I would have to wait for an airline representative. I enquired whether they could hold the plane five minutes in the hopes that I could sort this out with the representative, and they informed me that my luggage had already been unloaded. They handed my identity document to me only after the plane was already underway to the runway. It should be noted that the plane was a KLM plane (in a jointly operated flight with UIA) flying under Dutch flag.
As the minutes passed and I witnessed my intended plane take off without me, I grew increasingly anxious as I did not have enough funds to purchase another ticket, and I could not contact anyone as my phone had been lost in Istanbul. It is now 14:00. I continued to demand for an explanation from the third company employees, and instead received mocking grins and sneering laughs. I demanded to see their name tags (which, being in Cyrillic I probably could not have read anyways) which were tucked in their shirt's pocket, and they looked at me as if I was mad. After another 15-20 minutes wait and no airline representative in sight, I approached a passing immigration official ad explained my situation. The young man took me to a door and told me to wait as he summoned a senior immigration official, a blonde lady.
After having explained my conundrum to the senior official (whose name I also am unaware of) she calmly and clearly explained to me that despite the terrible situation I was in there was nothing she could do stating that “since you [I] are not going through Ukrainian immigration, it is not our business and we cannot do anything”. At this moment I grew confused – if it was not Ukrainian immigration issue, who had denied the validity of my travel documents and to board the plane? As I took a bathroom break the employees of the third party company, who had followed me as I spoke with the immigration official, conveniently disappeared never to be seen again. I could easily identify them if provided with a picture. The immigration official however, now had to rightfully insist that since I did not have a boarding pass, I was to wait in the transit area instead as in the gates area.
At 14:30 I attempt to log in Skype and call my mother in Italy in order to explain the situation, but she was not at the computer.
I returned to the transfer area where I demanded explanations from the clerks at the transfer desk (which had changed since I first passed through it) and they frantically made numerous calls. All I was being told is that I could not travel with my Italian ID card, but was not told why. Eventually a middle-manager from another third party company (who was not handling KLM or UIA) decided to help and also made a round of calls. This went on for nearly two hours, during which I took the opportunity to look up the emergency number for the Ukrainian Embassy in Kiev, and contacted ambassadorial staff Mr. Domeniconi with the phone of a passenger who had witnessed my diatribe and distress. I explained the situation to Mr. Domeniconi, and informed him that they would not accept my Italian ID card. Mr. Domeniconi told me that since it seemed mostly like a company-related issue at that moment, there was little he could do. He did however urge me to first talk to the airline representative and try sort the issue out with the directly, and to call him back should the issue persist, in which case he would speak with the airline representative and try to convince them to rightfully accept my travel documents.
After nearly two hours of wait, it is now approaching 16:00, a representative of Ukraine International Airlines and one of his colleagues come down to speak to me. This was the first time I was allowed to speak with someone with managerial discretion in this entire time, two hours after I was informed that an airline representative would be summoned, when I was at the initial gate. I explained the situation to the gentleman, who did not seem to care much for it, as he told me that “they had received word from immigration officials in the Netherlands that my documents were not to be accepted”. I insisted that my documents were valid and that I was naturally allowed to transit through Ukraine from Istanbul into a Shengen area nation. He did not seemed convinced and got on the phone with the Immigration Liaison, although I was not told for whom or what. After a heated debate with the IL, in which I had to explain the most basic aspects of international travel laws and treaties and that Italy did not produce plastic identity cards, he told me that I had “convinced him that you [I] are allowed to travel to the Netherlands”, and was going to be issued another ticket to my intended destination as soon as possible. Finally relieved, I sat waiting and pacing in the transit area.
After an hour of wait, I enquired with the clerks at the transit area whether everything was going smoothly, and they informed me that they had been told by the airline representatives that I would be flow back to Istanbulon a flight departing not two hours from then. Outraged, I explained that I was told that I would be flown to my original destination, that I spoke in person with the Immigration Liaison and the airline representative (which they also saw), and they said that they were sorry, but that is what they had been told. During this entire debate, I asked to see whether the airline/airport computer system actually mentioned that I could not travel with an ID card, and when shown, the system clearly stated that Italian citizens could transit from Istanbul to Amsterdam with only the possession of an ID card. I re-opened my laptop and around 17:00 I was able to contact my mother in Italy and ask her to call Mr. Domeniconi and explain the situation. Via a Ukraine (Skype) – Italy (Skype and Phone) – Ukraine (Phone) connection, I was able to speak with Mr. Domeniconi and explain that they intended to fly me to Istanbul. I was able to provide him with the number of the service desk of Ukraine International Airlines before my computer battery died, and I had to hope for the best, and that Mr. Domeniconi would be able to resolve this issue.
After what I can only imagine was a large and long series of phone calls, I assume that Mr. Domeniconi was able to reach the proper authorities within the Airlines and rectify the situation. Around 19:00 I was provided with a boarding pass by the same airline representative (of UAI) as I had spoken with before. It must be noted, however, that this was not the next immediate flight which would have departed at 6:10 in the morning and was also jointly operated by KLM and UAI, but was flying under Dutch flag. When I asked why the airline representative told me that being under direct Dutch jurisdiction, KLM did not want to break the request by Dutch government officials not to accept my documents, while that was no longer an issue if I were to fly under Ukrainian flag following Mr. Domeniconi's drastic intervention.
I finally embarked the Ukraine International Airlines flight to Amsterdam at 9:40. Upon arrival my document was taken for an additional check which took no longer than 7 minutes. Later, i found out that my friends and family had been continuously calling airport immigration inquiring about me, and were told that they could not give information on individual cases. I cannot help but feel that the Dutch immigration officials may have taken advantage of the fact that I was outside the Shengen area to exercise some good old style harassment, to cause psychological distress, and as a warning sign that they are "watching".
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