• France forces Poland to block Muhammad Rabbani’s entrance into the country for OSCE conference.
• Rabbani had to address the conference to spread awareness regarding the treatment of Muslims in France.
Muhammad Rabbani, a prominent human rights campaigner and the Managing Director at CAGE, is known for his advocacy work addressing injustices faced by Muslims in various countries, with a particular focus on France.
Muhammad Rabbani had been scheduled to speak at Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference in Warsaw but was held at a place similar to a detention facility by Polish officers. His team, CAGE, shared a video of him on their Instagram handle and and stated, “We want you to know that this unjust ban will not go unchallenged. We are taking this matter to the courts, and we need your support.”
Border officers at Warsaw airport informed Muhammad Rabbani that he was denied entry into Poland due to his name in the Schengen Information System (SIS). The SIS serves as a security database that permits any member of the Schengen area, comprising 26 EU member states allowing the free movement of people and goods, to bar individuals from entering any country within the block.
Documentation of Rabbani’s prohibition from entering Poland confirmed his presence on the SIS list. While the paperwork did not specify the country responsible for his listing, Rabbani asserted that the border officers who detained him explicitly stated that it was France.
Rabbani candidly shared his encounter, stating:
“Polish border guards took me aside and said that France has placed me on the SIS. This admission just shows the extent to which France will go to prevent us from discussing the treatment of French Muslims”.
Earlier this year, France’s interior ministry had banned Rabbani from entering the country, accusing him of disseminating conspiracy theories about “Islamophobic persecution” in France. In the shared video, Rabbani says that he will be challenging these disruptive tactics and authoritarian responses by France in the court.
Despite the setback, Rabbani expressed his determination to continue raising awareness about the “persecution faced by Muslims in France” and his dedicated CAGE team in Poland remains committed to delivering the critical message about human rights and the alleged discrimination faced by the Muslim community.
The incident has raised concerns about freedom of speech and international diplomacy, as it appears to be part of another broader effort by France to prevent public scrutiny of its policies targeting Muslims.
