'Muslims in Europe discriminated at study and work'

Amnesty International has released a report on discrimination against Muslims in Europe, which has highlighted cases of prejudice in education and employment sectors against the community. 

The report titled 'Choice and Prejudice: Discrimination against Muslims in Europe' has urged European governments to work on the negative stereotypes and prejudices that have fueled discrimination against Muslims, especially women, in Europe.

The group also appealed to the European governments to avoid introducing bans on wearing religious and cultural symbols on the community, Gulf News reports. 

Amnesty has also criticised Switzerland for a 2009 ban on the construction of minarets. 

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"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," Marco Perolini, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination, said. 

"While everyone has the right to express their cultural, traditional or religious background by wearing a specific form of dress no one should be pressurised or coerced to do so. General bans on particular forms of dress that violate the rights of those freely choosing to dress in a particular way are not the way to do this," said Perolini.

The report has mainly focused on countries such as Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland where Amnesty International has raised issues such as restrictions on the establishment of places of worship and prohibitions on full-face veils. The report also documents numerous individual cases of discrimination across the countries covered.

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Despite various legislations against discrimination, Muslims in Europe suffered from inequality in education and employment sectors. 

The Amnesty International report states that the right to establish places of worship is a key component of the right to freedom of religion or belief which is being restricted in some European countries, despite state obligations to protect, respect and fulfill this right. 

The report mentioned that according to 2010 figures, there were nearly 44 million Muslims living in Europe. Moreover, Muslims made up to less than 10 percent of the population in any Western and Northern European country. 

The report has come after far right leader Marine Le Pen scored a surprisingly strong third-place showing in France's presidential elections. Her anti-immigrant platform singled out Muslim practices for criticism.

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