My 8 year old son and myself were once "detained" at an airport. On arrival at our holiday destination we were held at the immigration desk for some time. The immigration officer was very nervous, I could see him sweating and his voice was strained as he phoned for assistance. My wife and our other two children had passed through the adjacent desk, just ahead of us. I was told I was not allowed to move or to speak to her, nor was she allowed to remain in the immigration hall. Other officers appeared and we were closely escorted away to a side office for questioning. No-one would explain what was happening, or why we had been detained; in fact I was told to answer their questions and not to ask them.
They kept asking which one of us was which, although they had both of our passports in front of them, so it should have been quite obvious. They also wanted to know where we had come from, where we were going, why we were there and when we had last left that country (it was our first and only visit).
After about twenty minutes of this repetitive questioning (I think they were hoping I would crack and change my story) a phone rang and after one of them answered they told me we were free to go. No apology or explanation. My wife was a bit frantic by the time we found her.
Similar thing happened on departure from another airport in the same country at the end of the three week holiday; although this time were were questioned for a shorter time. Still no explanation was given. All very worrying and intimidating.
I later did some research and discovered that someone with the same name as my 8 year old son was wanted on suspicion of mass murder in that country.
My son strongly insists that he never did it. I tend to believe him as he had never been to New Zealand before, or since.
