Nicolas Sarkozy has announced he will seek his party’s nomination to stand in next year’s French presidential election. He declares that he wants to ban the Muslim headscarf from universities and public companies, limit the French nationality rights of children born to foreign parents, and ban pork-free options in school canteens, meaning Muslim and Jewish …
EP officials to pay first visit to Turkey since failed coup attempt
Officials from the European Parliament will on Tuesday pay their first visit to Turkey since the foiled coup attempt of July 15. No representatives from the European Parliament have visited Turkey until today. Turkey is still a candidate country for European Union and its parliamentery building and Presidential complex in Ankara were bombed by coup …
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French politician calls for Muslims to be ‘discreet’ amid controversy over burkini bans
The incoming head of France’s government body on Islam is facing a mounting backlash for suggesting Muslims should be “discreet”. Jean-Pierre Chevènement, 77, has been charged with heading the Foundation for French Islam by President Francois Hollande – despite not being a Muslim himself. “The advice I give in these difficult times – like the …
Islamophobic tweets ‘peaked in July’
Almost 7,000 “Islamophobic” tweets were sent, in English, every day in July worldwide, data seen by the BBC suggests. This compared to 2,500 in April, with peaks recorded following the Nice lorry attack and the attempted military coup in Turkey. Forty-nine words and hashtags were used as indicators of anti-Islamic tweets, by the think tank …
French police apprehend 10 Muslim women for wearing burkinis
Ten Muslim women have been apprehended by French police for wearing a burkini to the beach, with four having to pay a fine, a French official said on 17 August 2016. The women were all stopped by police in Cannes where a ban on the full-body swimming attire came into place on 28 July. Six …
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14-year-old boy is youngest refugee to die trying to cross UK border from Calais Jungle
The death of a 14-year-old boy, killed on a French motorway while trying to reach his family in Britain, despite having a legal right to asylum in the UK, has sparked urgent calls for the Government to stop playing “disgusting politics” with the lives of refugee children. The young Afghan – who has a brother …
Children risk lives ‘everyday’ as UK builds Calais wall
Under European asylum rules known as Dublin III, migrants must make their asylum claim in the first safe country they reach, although children are permitted to transfer to another country if they have family members living there. But according to Britain’s anti-slavery Commissioner Kevin Hyland, children in the camp are risking their lives every day …
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Australian woman forced off French beach for wearing a burkini
A Muslim woman from Australia has told how she was forced to leave a beach in France for wearing a burkini. Zeynab Alshelh, a 23-year-old medical student, told Australian media she had travelled to Europe to show solidarity with local Muslim women. Footage broadcast on Channel 7 showed local people saying they would call the …
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French lorry drivers converge on Calais for refugee camp protest
Thousands of angry Calais residents, lorry drivers and farmers blockaded the Channel Tunnel and ferry port on Monday to demand the demolition of the sprawling “Jungle” migrants’ camp, blamed for rising insecurity. French lorry drivers have threatened to blockade the port of Calais, causing severe travel disruption in France and the UK, unless a date …
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French PM Valls slams New York Times report on burkini ban
France’s prime minister Manuel Valls has reacted strongly to an article published by the New York Times on September 2nd, in which French Muslim women complained of discrimination. The article “paints an intolerable picture, because it is false, of France, the country of the Enlightenment and liberties,” Mr Valls retorted in an opinion piece published …
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