The situation in Europe is worrying…
National laws partially or totally prohibiting the full Islamic veil in public areas have increased over the last decade, first in France and Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Norway, Denmark, the Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto, and in the Netherlands last year. In 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favour of banning the headscarf for a Belgian employee who was dismissed because she wanted to wear it in the workplace, in the name of the principle of neutrality established within the company. Recently, a motion concerning the wearing of religious symbols (on the basis of which a woman wearing a headscarf would be authorised to work in the commune of Molenbeek) has provoked debate and splits, taking on a national dimension in Belgium …
… But the fight goes on!
However, we would like to underline some advances in favour of the defence of the fundamental right to freedom of conscience and religion, such as :
- the affirmation by the French Council of State that the burkini (a bathing suit covering the body and hair but not the face) does not cause a disturbance to public order;
- the rejection, last July, of the ban on the burqa by the Swiss Parliament ;
- the creation by the EU of a post of the coordinator on combating anti-Muslim hatred in 2015;
- the recognition by some politicians, such as Frans Timmermans, of Islamophobia as a “growing phenomenon”;
- Several projects carried out by civil society to raise public awareness of the phenomenon of Islamophobia but also to support those who are confronted with it;
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Join POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ-PLS and its partners in the fight against Islamophobia ! Together, let’s take action for inclusion and equality for all !
