Racist police at German airports

I was flying back from Muscat (Oman) to London (England) this week via Munich (Germany) and I had a horrible time being subjected to intimidation and threats by German police officers at Munich airport. I contacted Lufthansa Air and Munich Airport about it in the hope of finding a channel through which I could make a complaint. Thankfully, Munich Airport got back to me and provided with an email address (bpol.muc@polizei.bund.de) to which I've just addressed my complaint and described my experience, as follows:

Dear Munich Police, 

I was flying from Muscat to London via Munich on Monday 16 April 2018. (Flight number LH 2482 from Munich to London Heathrow.) After going through our gate (Gate H40) and, having been checked by Lufthansa staff, my wife and I were stopped by a couple of police officers. 

We can forgive that these police officers were only stopping and profiling non-white passengers. Fine. And, whilst it's distasteful, we can also understand and forgive that these male police officers wanted my wife to lift her face veil to show her face (even though she had just done so a second earlier to a Lufthansa staff member). Fine. She obliged. Not a huge deal. 

However, what is unforgivable is that the one officer we were dealing with was getting in our faces, getting super aggressive and threatening to detain us. And, to top it off, he was laughing out loud about it with his colleague as my wife and I were walking away afterwards. It was a horrible experience, totally unnecessary and has left us disturbed. Is this normal behaviour to be expected when flying through Munich airport? If so, that's fine; we'll accept it and refuse to fly via this airport in future. If not, we would appreciate a response and for this officer to be brought to account. 

I am sorry that we did not get the officer's name and identification number. We wanted to. But with the aggression and intimidation we were facing, we were afraid to request it. We honestly felt like we were dealing with a thug rather than a person of the law. 

Regards,

Adil Hussain

I searched online to see whether I was alone in my experience. Doing a quick search of "Munich airport racist police" and "Frankfurt airport racist police" turned up a number of results as follows:

• UK athlete Mo Farah being pushed and dragged by a police officer at Munich airport
• Brown person singled out for profiling
• Brown person accused of having a fake passport
• Black travellers describe their ordeals with German customs
• Indian Woman Told To Strip At Frankfurt Airport
• Lady arrested and robbed by the police at Frankfurt airport

So, in summary, it seems there's racism top to bottom in the police force at German airports and you're best avoiding Germany if you're non-white. If you really do have to travel to or via Germany, brace yourself for a run-in with "the law"!

Update (05 May 2018): After contacting Munich airport, Lufthansa Air and Munich police about my experience, the responses were as follows: Munich airport got back to me straight away and were super helpful in providing me with the Munich police contact details. Lufthansa Air got back to me around a couple of weeks after my complaint and were apologetic and said they had forwarded my complaint to the station manager at Munich Airport. Lastly, Munich police got back to me a week after I contacted them with a generic letter saying they would investigate the allegations.

12-day trip to Oman: Muscat, Sur, Nizwa

Below is a write-up of my 12-day trip to Oman with my wife. I'll start with a summary and some essentials and then proceed on to our trip itinerary.

Summary

12 days，7 hotels ，6 destinations, clear open roads and a good mix of land, sea, sun, mountains and deserts in the north of Oman. A highly recommended trip for the adventurous and nature lovers. Pictures of our trip here, here, here and here.

Essentials

1. Rent a car for the duration of your trip. The best way to get around is by car and finding parking in Oman is never a problem. A four wheel drive vehicle is a must if you're going to head for the mountains or the desert.
2. Have a cooler bag in your car to keep your snacks and drinks cool because it gets very hot in the car.
3. Keep your sunglasses and sun lotion with you at all times.
4. Purchase a mobile data plan on arrival at the airport.
5. Download at least two offline mapping apps on your mobile device. We found no one app was good enough to rely on entirely. The two we tended to use the most were Google Maps and MAPS.ME.

Itinerary

Day 1 (Thursday 5 April)

Arrived in Muscat from London Heathrow flying via Munich. (We booked with Lufthansa Air for £440 per person.) We bought a couple of Omantel Hayyak 2GB mobile data packages for 7 OMR each on arrival, set them up and then picked up our SUV (Hyundai Tucson) from the Europcar/Interrent desk at the airport. (We booked our car with arguscarhire.com for £467 including insurance.) Once our phones and car were all set up we drove to and checked into Lana Villa in Muscat.

Day 2 (Friday 6 April)

Stayed in and explored Muscat. We caught the Friday prayer at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and then drove on to Qurum Natural Park and Qurum Beach.

Day 3 (Saturday 7 April)

Drove to Sur from Muscat and stopped by at Bimmah Sinkhole and Wadi Shab along the way. After that we proceeded to and checked into Sur Grand Hotel.

Day 4 (Sunday 8 April)

Stayed in and explored Sur. We stopped by Bilad Sur Castle, Sunaysilah Fort, the fishing harbour for the sunset and then Al Ayjah Lighthouse where we sat and enjoyed a multitude of Adhans being called for Eisha in every direction.

Day 5 (Monday 9 April)

Drove from Sur to the southern part of Wadi Bani Khalid near the villages of Sabt and Sayq but we didn't find any water so we turned back and proceeded on to Wahiba Sands and checked in to Golden Palm Oasis for an overnight desert experience.

Day 6 (Tuesday 10 April)

Drove to the northern part of Wadi Bani Khalid near Muqal where we got some good swimming in. Proceeded on to Nizwah where we checked in to Al Diyar Hotel.

Day 7 (Wednesday 11 April)

Visited Nizwa Souq and Al Hoota Cave and then proceeded up Jebel Shams and checked in to Sama Heights Resort.

Day 8 (Thursday 12 April)

Drove around the top of Jebel Shams near our accommodation, caught site of some good deep canyons and went for a nicely paved walk from Al Khitaym.

Day 9 (Friday 13 April)

Drove to Musannah and checked in to Millennium Resort Mussanah. The initial plan was to pass through Wadi Al Hawqain and Al Rustaq on the way to Musannah but we got caught in some tough mountain roads so we bailed on Wadi Al Hawqain and simply passed Al Rustaq on the way to Musannah. The resort was a little too much on the luxurious side and we only stayed here because there were no other accommodation options in the area. In hindsight we should have just gone straight from Jebel Shams to Muscat.

Day 10 (Saturday 14 April)

Drove to Muscat. Checked in to Behlys Boutique. We visited Muscat Grand Mall in the evening but it's nothing to write home about. Just another fancy mall.

Day 11 (Sunday 15 April)

Hung around and did some activities in Muscat. We caught the dolphin watching boat ride from Marina Bandar Al Rowdha (we didn't enjoy the dolphin watching experience), some jet skiing in Azaiba Beach and then some gift shopping in Mutrah Souq.

Day 12 (Monday 16 April)

Dropped off our rental car and caught our return flight from Muscat airport.