A fortnight after the introduction of a series of stringent checks for migrant workers by the UK government, one of the world’s topmost medical journals has cautioned against the pitfalls of such a policy for Asian doctors who want to work in the National Health Scheme (NHS).

“Overseas doctors should not face discrimination because of terror attacks,” says The Lancet in its latest issue, released on Friday.

Announced on July 4 by the UK government, the new screening system will add to the woes of overseas doctors, who already face unjust treatment, the journal says in an editorial.

One of the common examples of discrimination, the report says, is the fact that doctors from ethnic minority groups are less likely to get senior positions in the NHS.

Referring to the recent arrest of NHS doctors it says: “The danger now is that the actions of a few will be used as an excuse to discriminate against the many overseas doctors who currently work, or want to work, in the NHS, since those involved in the attempted attack originally came to the UK from India and the Middle East”.

Bangalore’s Dr Sabeel Ahmed and Dr Mohammed Haneef, who is now under detention in Australia, are the two accused in the recent terror attacks in the UK.

 Both had worked for Halton Hospital in Cheshire after which Dr Haneef moved to Australia while Dr Sabeel Ahmed shifted his base to Warrington Hospital in Liverpool.

Another Iraqi doctor, Dr Bilal Abdula, who worked in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley is also another key suspect in the entire plot.

A couple of more doctors from this hospital are also under suspicion.

“The role of foreign doctors in the NHS should not be forgotten as the UK considers existing and future recruitment policies. Although criminal checks may be a necessary counter-terrorism measure, discriminating against doctors on the basis of race, religion, or country of birth is not,” says the journal.

Terror accused talked to Sabeel about his newborn: report
Melbourne, PTI: Media reports claim that Mohammed Haneef had a chat with his second cousin, Sabeel Ahmed in an internet chatroom about the birth of his child, just days before the attack on Glasgow airport.
Haneef and Sabeel Ahmed are said to have last communicated online on June 26 — three days before the undetonated car bombs were located in London, outside a popular nightclub and in upmarket Park Lane.
Details of Haneef’s links to the UK terror suspects were revealed in documents used by Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews to revoke the Indian doctor’s visa, released by Haneef’s lawyers.
 Reportedly, Ahmed’s mother visited Haneef’s wife after the birth in Bangalore, and passed on the good news.
Media also maintains that Haneef’s most recent contact with Kafeel Ahmed was in March.