The Imprint of Discrimination

Enrique Sarfati, President for Human Rights of Disabled People's International, Latin American Region, was detained during four hours at the Miami International Airport. This happened because migration authorities did not have proper training and equipment for finger printing persons with short or no hands.

The detention occurred last May 23, when the DPI delegate was traveling from Buenos Aires to New York, to participate on the Third Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The requirement of finger printing foreign passengers entering the United States was adopted last January, as part of the new security measures of this country

The upper limbs of Sarfati are very small, with limited mobility and very little fine motor activity. All of these elements constitute, for him, limitations with respect to his ability to have fingerprints, requiring personal assistance.

He was not offered nor provided with personal assistance by the Immigration Authorities of the airport. Since the finger prints were not obtained, he was taken a separate room and left there for four hours until the Immigration Authorities decided what to do. Then they decided not to collect his fingerprints and allowed him to continue his journey.

Nevertheless, this unnecessary delay, caused this Spanish speaking passenger to lose his other flights to New York. Consequently, he was not able to participate in the first day of sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee. By the way, the Immigration Officer did not speak Spanish.

Mr. Sarfati, indicated to Disability World that he hopes this experience will never happen again. Persons with disabilities should not be discriminated against under any circumstances.

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