Amnesty Slams European Court Ruling on Headscarves

The wearing of religious symbols, especially Islamic symbols such as headscarf, has become a hot issue with the rise of nationalist and sometimes overtly anti-Muslim parties across Europe.

Brussels, 16 Jumadil Akhir 1438/15 March 017 (MINA) – The human rights group, Amnesty International, condemned Tuesday the ruling by the EU Court of Justice that two employers did not break EU anti-discrimination law when they dismissed two women from their respective jobs in France and Belgium for wearing headscarves.

“Today’s disappointing rulings by the European Court of Justice give greater leeway to employers to discriminate against women – and men – on the grounds of religious belief. At a time when identity and appearance has become a political battleground, people need more protection against prejudice, not less” KUNA quoted John Dalhuisen, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia programme, as sying in a statement.

“The court did say that employers are not at liberty to pander to the prejudices of their clients. But by ruling that company policies can prohibit religious symbols on the grounds of neutrality, they have opened a backdoor to precisely such prejudice. It is now for national governments to step up and protect the rights of their citizens,” he said.

The Luxembourg-based court argued that the refusal to allow the employee to wear a headscarf was based on a wish by the private employer to appear ‘neutral’ on the question of religion towards their customers.

On 12 June 2006, G4S Secure Solutions (G4S), a private company in Belgium, dismissed Samira Achbita, who had been working as a receptionist since February 2003, because she informed the company of her intention to start wearing the headscarf in the workplace.

In another case, on 22 June 2009, Micropole SA, a private undertaking based in France, dismissed Asma Bougnaoui, who had been working as a design engineer for the company since 15 July 2008, because she wanted to continue wearing the headscarf when providing services to the company’s clients.

Meanwhile, a group of anti-racism organisations in Brussels also slammed the based court’s decision saying it “seriously undermines the right to equality and non-discrimination of women.” “This is an extremely worrying decision because it effectively bars all Muslim women wearing the headscarf from the workplace”, said Amel Yacef, chair of European Network Against Racism (ENAR), in a statement.

“This is nothing short of a Muslim ban applied only to women in private employment, just because of how they choose to dress according their religion,” noted Yacef. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)