Potemkin
01-03-2005, 02:31 PM
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=146236
Women who convert to Islam face discrimination
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Women who convert to Islam and wear the hijab (headscarf) at work are being fired, a Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs spokesman said.
The ministry, however, cannot penalise the offenders because there is no clause in the labour law that takes into account these kinds of cases, the source said.
The official said the ministry had come across a number of cases where employees had been dismissed because they had changed their beliefs.
He said it was hard for the ministry to learn the real reason for the firing, but it included women who had started to wear the hijab.
"We receive many of these cases. In a month, we could receive tens of cases. We do not have statistics, but we advise those who are complaining to go to court because we consider it an arbitrary firing.
"We receive many cases of service being terminated. The employer usually accuses the employee, who has changed his or her religion and converted to Islam, of leaking job secrets or repeatedly being absent from work."
The source from the ministry told Gulf News yesterday: "Many of these cases are taken care of by the Zayed Centre for New Muslims, which follows the cases and gives the individuals support. Because we have no law to solve such cases, we deal with them as arbitrary end-of-service cases. We try to solve the problem between the employee and the company. We ask them to give the employee his or her dues, his or her leave and we cancel any ban so they can transfer to another job."
He said if the employer did not accept a settlement, the case was taken to court. He said the ministry should follow international labour laws.
He said an employee who is asked to remove her hijab is considered being harassed. To consider firing employees because they have changed their beliefs is discriminatory.
A Dubai-based lawyer said he hoped the ministry would impose amendments to the labour law to deal with such cases, which have increased as the labour market has become more sophisticated.
A Romanian woman, who worked as a hostess in a hotel in Sharjah, converted to Islam a year ago and wears a hijab. She said she was asked by her manger to remove her hijab or he would sack her and give her a one-year ban.
The Romanian woman said she spoke to the media because no one in the labour or immigration department would listen to her.
"After threatening my employers with media exposure, they agreed to release me. They gave me my end of service benefits and with the help of the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department I transferred my visa and I got another job," she said.
Another case concerns a woman who used to work as a dancer in hotel. When she wore a hijab and stopped dancing, she was treated badly by her sponsor. She complained to the ministry, which contacted her sponsor. The sponsor agreed to settle her case, and she was able to get a job elsewhere.
Lacuna
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs says there is no clause in the labour law to deal with cases where an employee is sacked for wearing a hijab.
A ministry official said he had come across a number of cases where employees had been sacked because they had changed their beliefs
Women who convert to Islam face discrimination
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Women who convert to Islam and wear the hijab (headscarf) at work are being fired, a Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs spokesman said.
The ministry, however, cannot penalise the offenders because there is no clause in the labour law that takes into account these kinds of cases, the source said.
The official said the ministry had come across a number of cases where employees had been dismissed because they had changed their beliefs.
He said it was hard for the ministry to learn the real reason for the firing, but it included women who had started to wear the hijab.
"We receive many of these cases. In a month, we could receive tens of cases. We do not have statistics, but we advise those who are complaining to go to court because we consider it an arbitrary firing.
"We receive many cases of service being terminated. The employer usually accuses the employee, who has changed his or her religion and converted to Islam, of leaking job secrets or repeatedly being absent from work."
The source from the ministry told Gulf News yesterday: "Many of these cases are taken care of by the Zayed Centre for New Muslims, which follows the cases and gives the individuals support. Because we have no law to solve such cases, we deal with them as arbitrary end-of-service cases. We try to solve the problem between the employee and the company. We ask them to give the employee his or her dues, his or her leave and we cancel any ban so they can transfer to another job."
He said if the employer did not accept a settlement, the case was taken to court. He said the ministry should follow international labour laws.
He said an employee who is asked to remove her hijab is considered being harassed. To consider firing employees because they have changed their beliefs is discriminatory.
A Dubai-based lawyer said he hoped the ministry would impose amendments to the labour law to deal with such cases, which have increased as the labour market has become more sophisticated.
A Romanian woman, who worked as a hostess in a hotel in Sharjah, converted to Islam a year ago and wears a hijab. She said she was asked by her manger to remove her hijab or he would sack her and give her a one-year ban.
The Romanian woman said she spoke to the media because no one in the labour or immigration department would listen to her.
"After threatening my employers with media exposure, they agreed to release me. They gave me my end of service benefits and with the help of the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department I transferred my visa and I got another job," she said.
Another case concerns a woman who used to work as a dancer in hotel. When she wore a hijab and stopped dancing, she was treated badly by her sponsor. She complained to the ministry, which contacted her sponsor. The sponsor agreed to settle her case, and she was able to get a job elsewhere.
Lacuna
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs says there is no clause in the labour law to deal with cases where an employee is sacked for wearing a hijab.
A ministry official said he had come across a number of cases where employees had been sacked because they had changed their beliefs