● Unlike international athletes wearing hijab, French athletes are being discriminated against by the ban
● The harassment to secularise Muslims has forced thousands of families to flee the country.
France has always been very proud of its approach to secularism and unlike any other country in the world, it has been relentless in trying to force Muslims to abandon any visible religious signs.
For example, Muslim girls cannot go to school with a hijab and have to take it off every day before entering the premises of their studies.
Muslim women can also give up looking for a job if they wear a hijab.
Trying to compromise with the local authorities has not helped the Muslim community since it is never enough.
It seems they will never be satisfied with the Muslims until they abandon their religion altogether.
Indeed, every compromise leads to another debate. Recently, girls were banned from wearing long dresses for suspicion that they might be abayas and therefore “Muslim” dresses.
This obsession with secularism has left French Muslim female athletes in a very distressing situation as the Olympic Games in Paris are getting very close.
Whereas they should be happy to compete in their own country, in an ironic twist of fate –courtesy of the French authorities- they will be the only Muslim athletes discriminated against for their hijab and forbidden to compete in the games.
Late last year, French Sports Minister Amelia Oudea-Castera announced the ban but this did not prevent her a few days ago from plunging into the very polluted Seine in Paris, wearing….a burkini!
It seems having the French nationality when one is a Muslim, is a huge disadvantage and this does not concern only women.
We have seen several debates about Muslim footballers fasting during Ramadan. Some wanted to ban them from playing altogether, even though their results were not any poorer than when they were not fasting. Sometimes, their performance was even better.
Other players have been targeted for refusing to wear the LGBT flag on their T-shirts and some called for the definitive exclusion of those footballers.
Public opinion tried to reverse the ban but it is now too late for those Muslim athletes wearing a hijab to participate in the games.
The French media have noticed that thousands of families have been leaving the country in the past few years.
A recent study was made on the subject. The book is called “France, you love it but you leave it” in reference to the famous sentence from former President Nicolas Sarkozy who told Muslims: “France: you love it OR you leave it!”
The study shows that even non-practicing Muslims did not feel welcome and safe in their own country and that most of them are very well educated.
Most countries they prefer to go to are other Western countries, showing that their approach to religion is seen as less discriminatory to them than in France.
The UK is one of the top destinations as well as Canada, Australia, and Singapour but also closer countries like Luxembourg or Switzerland.
Let’s hope that this harassment will not lead to more worrying measures like in China.
