Paris: A UN committee has ruled that France discriminated against a Muslim woman who was barred from attending vocational training at a public school while wearing an Islamic headscarf.
According to a UN document, in 2010 Naima, now 45, was to be trained as a management assistant in a course held at a high school in the state, where young people are prohibited by law from wearing the hijab. When she arrived, the headmistress of the school in the northern suburbs of Paris stopped her from entering.
Six years ago in 2004, France banned children from wearing the hijab and other religious symbols in public schools. Naima argued that as a student of higher education, she cannot be subjected to the controversial law.
According to the document, the UN Human Rights Committee determined that the committee had concluded that refusing to allow Namia to participate in training while wearing her headscarf constituted discrimination on the basis of gender and religion.
A UN source has confirmed the authenticity of the document. France’s interior ministry and foreign ministry, on the other hand, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
