Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Muslims in Europe Dogged by Bias, Amnesty Says

CNN: Muslims in Europe face discrimination in education, employment and religious freedom, an Amnesty International report said Tuesday.

"Muslim women are being denied jobs and girls prevented from attending regular classes just because they wear traditional forms of dress, such as the headscarf. Men can be dismissed for wearing beards associated with Islam," said Marco Perolini, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination. "Rather than countering these prejudices, political parties and public officials are all too often pandering to them in their quest for votes."

The report, titled "Choice and Prejudice: Discrimination Against Muslims in Europe," details the problem, with a focus on Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

Amnesty International raised the issue, as it has done before, of restrictions "on the establishment of places of worship and prohibitions on full-face veils."

The report said employers have been permitted "to discriminate on the grounds that religious or cultural symbols will jar with clients or colleagues or that a clash exists with a company's corporate image or its 'neutrality.'

"Wearing religious and cultural symbols and dress is part of the right of freedom of expression. It is part of the right to freedom of religion or belief -- and these rights must be enjoyed by all faiths equally." Perolini said. » | CNN Wire Staff | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Muslims discriminated against for demonstrating their faith » | Monday, April 23, 2012

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