U.S. Citizen Spent 10 Nights In Airport Detention

An American citizen and medical school student from California found himself in airport detention in Bangkok, Thailand for 10 nights, and he says it is his belief that it was because he had been placed on the U.S. government's "No-Fly" list.

Rehan Motiwala was returning from visiting his family in Jakarta, Indonesia to Los Angeles, where the 29-year-old is a medical student in Pomona. He spent 10 nights in a windowless detention room normally used for deportees sleeping on a mattress that he described as "roach-infested."

The LA Times reports that the ordeal began when he was informed by airline officials in Bangkok that they would not issue him a boarding pass and that he could not travel, but offered no explanation for the move. He spent four nights stranded in the airport, and was then approached by U.S. Justice Department officials who wanted question him. He said he refused to answer questions without a lawyer present, and they handed him over to Thai officials. He was confined in a detention center in the basement of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Motiwala is of Pakistani decent, and he had been in contact with a conservative Muslim missionary movement based in South Asia while he was overseas. He had reportedly taken some time off from medical school last year, traveling to Pakistan to visit his family. He then traveled to Indonesia to work with a group that has members that proselytize for Islam.

He was finally allowed to leave Bangkok last Friday, but no explanation was ever given as to why he was not allowed to fly in the first place.

The Justice Department reveals very few details about the "No-Fly" list, but did say that there are between 500 and 1,000 Americans among the 20,000 or so people currently not allowed to fly.

FMI: www.justice.gov