Japanese woman forced to take pregnancy test before plane

The airline Hong Kong Expresse assured to have apologized to the young woman and to have stopped this practice. Kin Cheung / AP

Midori Nishida, 25, had to declare on a questionnaire that she was not pregnant when registering her plane. An answer that clearly was not enough for the airline Hong Kong Express, which wanted to make sure that the Japanese tourist did not take advantage of her trip to the American island of Saipan to give American citizenship to her baby.

Members of the Hong Kong company then escorted Midori Nishida to a public restroom at Hong Kong Airport for a urine pregnancy test. The latter having demonstrated that she was not pregnant, the young woman was finally able to take her flight to the Pacific Island, where she was to visit her parents.

The incident, revealed by the Wall street journal, occurred in November. "It was very humiliating and frustrating"said the American daily Mme Nishida, who grew up in Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. His family has lived for more than twenty years on this territory which became American at the end of the Second World War.

The airline has since assured Agence France-Presse (AFP) that it has apologized to the young woman and that she has stopped the practice: "We immediately suspended this practice, which is under review. We would like to apologize for the distress caused (…) We recognize the significant concerns that this practice has raised. "

Nearly 600 babies born to tourists in 2018

Hong Kong Express said it took "Measures on its flights to Saipan since February 2019 to ensure that US immigration laws are not undermined", in response to concerns raised by the island’s authorities. The American territory of Saipan is indeed a popular destination for women who wish to give birth on US soil in order to obtain American citizenship for their child.

In 2018, almost 600 babies were born to tourists in the Northern Mariana Islands, more than the number of babies born to locals. According to data from local health authorities, 575 Chinese tourists gave birth there that year.

The influx follows the introduction in 2009 of a visa waiver measure to attract Chinese tourists. This program has made these islands the only US territory where Chinese citizens are granted visa-free entry. But in recent years, Saipan has stepped up measures to curb birth tourism by asking airlines to carry out checks. At the risk of creating humiliating scenes for the passengers …

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