Parliament, rights groups slam EU headscarf ruling

By Ismail Cimen and Yusuf Ozcan

ANKARA

A ruling by the EU’s highest court allowing employers to ban staff from wearing visible religious symbols, including headscarves worn by certain Muslim women, is an affront to the principle of equality, the Turkish parliament’s Human Rights Commission said Thursday.

"One cannot consider the EJC's decision as independent from rising Islamophobia, xenophobia, and discrimination in Europe," said the commission’s deputy head, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party MP Fatma Benli.

She said the ruling allowing the banning of “any political, philosophical or religious sign” in the workplace "paves the way for destroying tolerance of cultural wealth in the name of neutrality."

"Europe must either abandon double standard practices or its human rights rhetoric," Benli added.

The statement came after the EU court issued a joint judgment on two separate appeals made by women in Belgium and France, both of them fired for refusing to remove their headscarves.

“An internal rule of an undertaking which prohibits the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination,” said the court’s opinion.

'The decision marginalizes Muslim women'

Representative bodies for Islam in France have also reacted against the ruling.

The decision will "marginalize" Muslim women in Europe, warned the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), an independent group formed in 2003.

"This decision makes it even more difficult for Muslim women to enter the business world, thus causing them to be excluded and marginalized, which is a major problem," spokesman Marwan Muhammad told Anadolu Agency.

Muhammad called the ruling effectively a ban on Muslim women even though the court said it was a ban on those wearing “any political, philosophical or religious sign.”

"The freedom of Muslim women is being restricted as European states succumb to racist and populist rhetoric," Muhammad said.

"Many European leaders mock U.S. President Donald Trump and his populist policy. But these leaders look like Trump by making decisions restricting the freedom of Muslim women."

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) also slammed the decision, calling it "discrimination against Muslim women."

Ahmet Ogras, the group’s deputy chair, said the ban was contrary to freedom of belief and equality. "Muslims are gradually being forced to leave Europe," he said.

France’s Muslim minority -- Europe's largest -- numbers nearly 5 million, or about 8 percent of the population.