It wasn’t the first time we’d been pulled up for articles of our faith (Picture: Karen Kaur)
Walking through the Eurostar security scanner, I heard that familiar beeping of the alarm and my heart sank.
Like clockwork, a French security officer appeared and ushered my husband, six-year-old son and I to a table for bag searches.
‘Open your suitcases,’ he demanded. ‘We want to see what’s inside.’
While it was our karas – a bangle usually made of pure steel or iron – that had set the scanners off initially, I knew our kirpans – a short sword with a curved blade, which is worn as part of a Sikh’s religious uniform – would soon become the focus of his search.
Sadly, it wasn’t the first time we’d been pulled up for articles of our faith – and I doubt it’ll be the last.
Every time we go on trips like this, we have to thoroughly research beforehand – and this Euro Disney holiday in April was no exception.
So I checked the Eurostar website beforehand to be crystal clear on the rules.
There were some obvious regulations, like items such as spears, crossbows, swords and starting pistols would – understandably – require a private courier. But things like bats, fencing equipment and sabres (as long as it was in a box in the suitcase) were allowed on board.
Surely our kirpans – which measure around the same size – would be fine to take in our luggage (Picture: Karen Kaur)
And while it didn’t say anything about kirpans outright, it did state that all flick knives, folding knives and daggers are banned – small folding pocket knives with blades under 75mm without a locking mechanism and camping cutlery are permitted.
Surely our kirpans – which measure around the same size – would be fine to take in our luggage?
I also double checked the guidance for Disneyland too. While the website didn’t say anything outright, I presumed it wouldn’t be an issue because I knew other Sikh families with their kirpans who’d made it inside without incident.
So, with everything seemingly in order, off we went.
Thankfully, leaving the UK was unproblematic. Security had no issue with us.
To be honest though, we don’t usually have problems in the UK because it is legal to wear the kirpan under both section 139(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.
The whole trip had definitely been tainted for us (Picture: Karen Kaur)
However, on arriving at Disneyland Paris, we were denied entry.
We were told that our kirpans were not permitted in the parks, nor was it usually allowed to leave them in their onsite hotel because they considered it a weapon.
So, after a lot of back and forth, we made a decision to leave the parks. And though it took four hours to do so, I was eventually refunded both the cost of our entry tickets to Disney and our hotel.
Booking an alternative hotel last minute in Paris (on the same weekend as the Paris Marathon, I might add) cost us a whopping £300 per …read more
Source:: Metro
