American Model Bella Hadid Reacts To Hijab Row In India, ‘Not Your Job To Tell Women…’, “It Needs To Stop.”
New
Age Islam News Bureau
18
February 2022
• Allow
Us To Wear Hijab On Fridays And Ramzan, Muslim Girls Tell Karnataka HC
• Amid
Debate, Women Lift Their Voices With Melodic
Quran Recitation
• ‘Such
A Shame’ Reactions As Nigerians Dressed Like Arab Women Arrested In Dubai
• Saudi
Women’s Football Team Lands In Maldives For First International Match
• 102-Year-Old
Woman Set To Seek Nigeria's Presidency
• Anti-Islamic
slogans should not be allowed on International Women’s Day, Qadri writes to PM
Imran
• A
Saudi Woman's iPhone Revealed NSO Group's Web Around The World
• Pakistan:
Women’s Commission To Challenge Acquittal InQandeelbaloch Case
• From
Turkish Jail, French Woman Accuses Greece Of ‘Pushback’
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/american-model-bella-ha-hijab-row/d/126398
--------
American
Model Bella Hadid Reacts To Hijab Row In India, ‘Not Your Job To Tell Women…’,
“It Needs To Stop”
Twitter/Bella
Hadid
----
18th
February 2022
Mumbai:
In midst of chaos and violence in the ongoing Hijab controversy in India,
several celebrities have been putting out their opinion on social media. Latest
celebrity to call the issue is American model Bella Hadid. Taking to Instagram
on Thursday, she criticised the discrimination faced by Muslim women in India
and several other countries.
Sharing
snippets of global news headlines on protests on Hijab ban, the 25-year-old
Muslim model wrote, “In other forms of discrimination: I urge France, India ,
Quebec, Belgium, and any other countries in the world who are discriminatory
against Muslim women, to rethink what decisions you have made or are trying to
make in the future about a body that is not yours.”
She
added, “It’s not your job to tell women what they should or shouldn’t wear,
especially when it is pertaining to faith and safety.
“It’s
not your job to tell women whether or not they can STUDY or PLAY SPORTS,
ESPECIALLY when it is pertaining to their faith and safety. Hijabi women in
France are not allowed to wear their Hijab to school, to play sports, to swim,
even on their ID pictures. You can’t be a civil worker or work in hospitals
with a Hijab. To get an internship, most universities will say, the only way to
get one is to take off the hijab. It’s ridiculous and really shows how
Islamophobic the world is without even acknowledging it. In regards to these
new Bills that are either in the process of being passed , or have already,”
she said.
Bella
Hadid concluded saying, “It needs to stop.”
Her
post was liked by Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, who too questioned the
ongoing discrimination in Karnataka and other states. Taking to Instagram,
Sonam Kapoor shared a picture of a man in a turban and a woman in a hijab, and
it questions why can a turban be a choice but a hijab can’t.
The
whole controversy erupted after the Karnataka government on February 5 issued
an order mandating a dress code in all schools and colleges, with a ban on
clothes that “disturb equality, integrity and public law and order”.
Meanwhile,
the Karnataka high court in its order last Thursday said that no religious
attire will be allowed until a final verdict is pronounced in the case.
Source:Siasat
Daily
https://www.siasat.com/bella-hadid-reacts-to-hijab-row-not-your-job-to-tell-women-2277795/
--------
Allow
Us To Wear Hijab On Fridays And Ramzan, Muslim Girls Tell Karnataka HC
The
counsel representing the Muslim girls requested the Karnataka HC to pass an
order allowing girls to wear Hijab on Friday, and during the holy month of
Ramzan. (Photo: PTI/File)
-----
February
17, 2022
They
claimed banning Hijab amounted to banning the holy Quran. The High Court, in
its interim order pending consideration of all petitions related to the hijab
row, last week restrained all the students from wearing saffron shawls,
scarves, hijab and any religious flag within the classroom.
"Poor
Muslim girls are suffering because of restriction on wearing Hijab. I request
the court to pass an order allowing girls to wear Hijab on Friday, which is
Jumma day for the Muslim, and during the holy month of Ramzan," counsel
Vinod Kulkarni, appearing on behalf of the Muslim girls, said before the full
bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M
Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit.
Kulkarni
contended there was a "mass hysteria" in the country due to the Hijab
issue. He said Hijab was "not against health or morality".
According
to him, banning Hijab amounted to banning the holy Quran.
On
January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference
held by the Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal city protesting against
the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing Hijab.
This
was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear Hijabs in
classes which was not allowed.
Till
then, students used to wear Hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after
removing the scarves, the college principalRudreGowda had said.
"The
institution did not have any rule on Hijab-wearing as such and since no one
used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came
with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Gowda had said.
Source:IndiaToday
--------
Amid
Debate, Women Lift Their Voices With Melodic
Quran Recitation
17/02/2022
CAIRO
-
The
young woman could hear her heart pounding so hard that she worried the
microphone placed in front of her would pick up its sound. Seated around her
were officials from Islamic nations, including her country’s president. Cameras
clicked.
She
closed her eyes.
Al-ZahraaLayekHelmee’s
voice filled the spacious, columned hall with a melodic recitation of the
Quran, a role customarily held by men in her country, Egypt.
For
the 18-year-old, the high-profile recitation of Muslim holy text at a Cairo
conference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was a personal milestone
— one that she also hopes would send a message to women and girls: That can be
you.
“I
wanted to prove that women have a great role to play when it comes to Quran
recitation,” she said.
Across
cultures and Muslim communities, the boundaries of such a role can be subject
to debate. Attitudes vary toward women publicly reciting the Quran within
earshot of nonrelated men — in person, online or in other media.
While
the most skilled female reciters may attain celebrity-like status in some countries,
others are largely confined to private spaces or all-women audiences.
Campaigns
have been springing up online to amplify the voices, and widen the reach, of
female Quran reciters across the world, with many posting their recitations and
encouraging others to follow suit.
It
is part of a larger effort by some Muslim women who say they want to build on
the historical examples of other women in their faith to expand their spiritual
leadership roles in Islamic spaces.
Online,
where Helmee has 1.2 million followers on Facebook, many cheer her on. Others —
men and women — reprimand her in messages, urging her to “fear God” or arguing
that her voice can tempt men, an idea she rejects.
The
controversy “is a matter of convention more than law,” said Zahra Ayubi, a
Dartmouth College associate professor who studies gender and Islamic ethics.
The
concern over women’s public recitation, she said, emerges from the
interpretation by some that a woman’s voice is part of her “awrah” — nakedness
or vulnerability — and should therefore be guarded from nonrelated men to
prevent temptation.
But
many scholars and religious bodies have contested the argument that a woman’s
voice in itself can be “awrah,” saying it’s what she says and her manner of
speech that matters.
“When
women are reciting the Quran, it’s an incredibly powerful response to the idea
that their voices are awrah,” Ayubi said. “Because they are speaking the most
honorable truth for Muslims, and in doing so keeping true to God’s command to
speak honorably.”
Learning
to read and understand the Quran is considered crucial for men and women alike.
But
perfecting recitations, or reciting professionally, usually takes rigorous
studying and practice to master elaborate rules governing such things as proper
pronunciation and articulation.
For
many Muslims, the voice of Quran reciters permeates daily life, blaring from
car radios and smartphones or playing out on television channels. Reciters are
often invited to religious or social events, sometimes moving their listeners
to tears. Many devout Muslims play recordings of favorite reciters at homes or
businesses to contemplate the verses or soothe their souls.
Seemi
Ghazi, who teaches Quranic Arabic at the University of British Columbia,
recalls how —growing up — she would wake up to the sound of her mother reciting
the Quran.
“For
so many Muslims, we actually experience the Quran primarily and initially
through the breath, the tone, the embodiment, the voice of women, most often
our mothers,” she said. “So it’s not as though hearing a woman’s voice is
something so new. It’s the question of the public sphere which may be
distinctive.”
Ghazi,
who recites Quran as part of Sufi circles she leads in Vancouver and at
interfaith events, sees a blossoming of Muslim women’s voices in alternative
Islamic spaces, particularly on social media.
There
was a time when Maryam Amir didn’t even know women could be Quran reciters;
today she is part of that blossoming.
The
California-based Amir recalls recoiling the first time she heard a girl
reciting at an event where men could hear her. She complained to the organizer.
“She
was from Indonesia, and she told me, ‘In Indonesia, women recite the Quran on
television, in conferences, in competitions.’”
One
of those women, Maria Ulfah, has made a name for herself that transcends
Indonesia’s borders. She’s won and judged competitions at home and abroad and
has been invited to recite in many parts of the world. Her recordings have
carried her voice to the faithful outside of Indonesia.
At
home, where she says female reciters enjoy the same status as men, some fans
have named their children after her.
“In
Indonesia, people are very appreciative and proud,” Ulfah said.
Differences
in attitudes, she argued, are largely cultural.
In
California, Amir’s views on the topic have evolved through her research and
interactions with Muslims abroad. She has memorised the Quran, becoming a
“hafiza,” a role that is highly prized and encouraged in Muslim communities.
She’s
also studied Islamic sciences, launched a social media campaign to get women to
post recitations of themselves and is now working on a new app. It features
recitations by Muslim women around the world, created in collaboration with a
council of Islamic scholars.
Amir
says she’s seen signs of a shift in attitudes.
“Since
people started hearing that scholars have different opinions on this issue …
people are starting to think about this differently,” she said. “There are many
women who memorize the Quran, but they had no idea they could recite in these
spaces.”
MadinahJaved,
who grew up in Scotland and now lives in Chicago, has also turned to social
media to highlight female reciters like herself while campaigning to inspire more
to share recitations.
She
is amazed by the resulting connections among women from different cultures and
with different styles of recitations.
“It’s
important for both men and women to hear women reciters,” she said. “It’s
important for men and boys to make space for women too, because they might have
more accessibility in certain places or more privilege.”
Online,
Javed has encountered strong support from some, while she found others to be
more focused on appearance, like whether her neck was showing, than the
recitation.
As
great as social media has been to raise awareness, she said, real change takes
face-to-face interactions. “It’s going to take a much longer time for change to
happen” in some communities.
In
Egypt, the makeup of the country’s syndicate for reciters and those who teach
Quran memorisation provides one indication of the road ahead for those
advocating female representation.
Of
10,000 members, there are just about 100 women and they are focused on teaching
memorisation, according to the syndicate’s head, Mohamed Hashad.
Hashad
said he, personally, sees no theological reasons to stop public female
reciters. “It’s more like social reasons,” he said. “Women don’t feel
comfortable sitting among the men to read Quran.”
Helmee,
who started learning the Quran with a tutor shortly after she turned 3 and
memorised it at 10, hopes that will change.
“I
run into women who tell me they wish they could do the same thing I do but that
it’s too late for them now,” she said. “I also meet women who tell me they pray
their daughters would grow up to be like me.”
Source:TheArab
Weekly
https://thearabweekly.com/amid-debate-women-lift-their-voices-quran-recitation
--------
‘Such
A Shame’ Reactions As Nigerians Dressed Like Arab Women Arrested In Dubai
16
February 2022
By
Chukwuani Victoria
A
photo showing the moment three Nigerian men dressed like Arab women were nabbed
by the Dubai security operatives for impersonation has surfaced on social
media.
In
the viral photos, the yet-to-be identified men were seen dressed like Muslim
women in hijab with their skin and faces brighten with light contour.
According
to the reports, they were arrested on allegation of impersonation – pretending
to be Arabs by dressing as such.
The
photos have stirred mixed reactions with a lot of social media users condemning
the actions of the young men all in the bid for greener pastures.
Alex
_Bubb wrote; Such a shame that becaue of few bad examples in the eyes of
Emiratis an other all Nigerians are bad. I met many and some of the nicest
people.
Pretty
boy wrote; ‘I want the number of the make up artist’
Freestainworld
wrote; ‘This is why they have refused to give Nigerians working Visa, our
people keep destroying our image every day.’
delzbaba
wrote; ‘gaddemit,,this is ingenious and crafty by this criminals, at first
glance i didn’t notice.’
Ikillbrokehoes
wrote; ‘This is really hilarious, some Nigerians and crimes though.
cheesycheesy’
Source:NaijaNews
--------
Saudi
women’s football team lands in Maldives for first international match
February
17, 2022
RIYADH
– Saudi Arabia’s first-ever women’s national football team arrived in the
Maldives on Thursday to officially play their first international match.
The
coach of the team, Monika Staab, revealed the final list of players who will
face Seychelles on Feb. 20 in the first match of the national team before they
play against the Maldives on Feb. 24.
The
two matches will be the first on the records of the first national women’s
team, which is preparing to enter the monthly classification of the
International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) officially.
The
final list of players included: Lama Al-Anazi, Sarah Khaled, Mona AbdelRahman
(goalkeeper), Atheer Khaled, Bayan Sadaqah, Hessa Al-Saadallah, Leen Muhammad,
Lana Abdel-Razzaq, Ohoud Al-Amari, Tala Al-Ghamdi, Mashael Al-Harbi (defense),
Asrar Al-Shaibani, Dalia Abu Laban, Fahda Al-Saad, Juri Tariq, LayanJohari,
Maryam Al-Tamimi, Farah Jafri, Noura Al-Ibrahim, RaghadMukhaizin, Sarah Hamad
and Saba Tawfiq (mid-field), Al-Bandari Mubarak, Al-Bandari Muhammad, Tahani
Al-Zahrani (attack)
Staab
stressed that the goal of these two matches is to gain experience, saying:
"Our goal is for the players to gain the necessary experience to play
international matches. In addition, we seek to officially enter the FIFA
classification."
About
the mechanism that she followed to select the players, she said: “Since last
September, we have started searching for players who can join the national
team’s journey and play in its official and international competitions.”
A
member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and
Director of the Women's Football Department, Lamia bin Bahian, said: “I would
like to congratulate all the players who have been selected. And I also like to
thank the rest of the players who didn’t make it to the list for the work they
did during the camp until last. I urge them to continue working and trying to
be with the team again.”
Source:
Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/617233
--------
102-year-old
woman set to seek Nigeria's presidency
Olarewaju
Kola
17.02.2022
MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria
A
102-year-old woman has announced her intention to run for president of Nigeria
in 2023.
Nonye
Josephine Ezeanyaeche threw her hat in the ring during a visit to the Nigeria
Television Authority (NTA), the country's largest television network, according
to local media on Thursday.
She
declared her intention to provide good leadership to the country, according to
Nigeria.Com, an online news outlet.
The
centenarian and founder of Voice for Senior Citizens lives in Anambra State, in
the country's southeast.
Since
late January, about 10 prominent politicians, including serving and former
governors, have announced they will seek the presidency.
Nigeria
will hold general elections early next year to elect governors and members of
the parliament, in addition to the president.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/102-year-old-woman-set-to-seek-nigerias-presidency/2505775
--------
Anti-Islamic
slogans should not be allowed on International Women’s Day, Qadri writes to PM
Imran
JavedHussain
February
17, 2022
Religious
Affairs Minister NoorulHaqQadri has written a letter to Prime Minister Imran
Khan saying that anti-Islamic slogans should not be raised on International Women's
Day, which is celebrated across the world on March 8.
The
minister has also suggested celebrating International Hijab Day instead on
March 8, in an effort to express solidarity with Muslim women across the globe.
In
a letter to the prime minister dated Feb 9, a copy of which is available with
Dawn.com, the minister said International Women's Day was celebrated on March 8
every year since the International Women's Year was first recognised by the
United Nations in 1975.
He
said that rallies were organised worldwide and programmes were held in an
effort to eradicate societal injustice against women and to ensure they get
their due rights.
Qadri
pointed out that in Pakistan, a campaign was being organised under the banner
of Aurat March which sought to highlight issues being faced by women.
"But
the kind of placards, banners and slogans raised during the march portray as if
the issue is with societal norms underlined in Islam more than women's rights,”
he said.
The
minister said Pakistan was a Muslim country and a majority of society wished to
live their lives according to the teachings of Islam. He added that Islam was a
complete code of life for which there was no other alternate.
"Any
group, under the banner of Aurat March or any other title, on the occasion of
upcoming International Women's Day on March 8, should not be allowed to
ridicule Islamic values, societal norms, hijab or modesty as such acts hurt the
sentiments of Muslims in the country," he said.
He
requested the prime minister to observe "International Hijab Day" on
March 8, in an effort to express solidarity with Muslim women across the globe
who had to struggle for religious independence and basic human rights.
Qadri
said that observing International Hijab Day would help draw the attention of
the global community, including the United Nations, towards the treatment of
Muslim women and students in neighbouring India and Indian Illegally Occupied
Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
He
urged the premier to use the occasion to call on the international community to
put an end to India's treatment of Muslims in an effort to protect their
religious freedom.
The
minister concluded his letter by saying that programmes should be organised at
a federal and provincial level to observe International Hijab Day. He added
that the religious affairs ministry and the information ministry should be
directed to draw up a strategy in this regard.
Sherry
Rehman calls Qadri’s letter 'concerning'
Meanwhile,
Senator Sherry Rehman dubbed Qadri's letter to the prime minister as "concerning",
suggesting that it was an attempt to “ban” Aurat March scheduled on March 8.
"Such
a statement from a federal minister is shocking," she said, adding that
March 8 is celebrated across the world as women's day. "What will you gain
by imposing a ban on a march by unarmed women?"
She
went on to say that no one had imposed restrictions on celebrating a day
dedicated to hijab. "On the one hand, we condemn India's attitude, but on
the other you talk about banning a women's march."
The
senator said that International Women's Day was for women from all walks of
life, adding that it aimed to raise awareness in society regarding gender
stereotypes and discrimination against women.
"You
are conspiring to deprive unarmed women of their freedom and rights on
International Women's Day," she said.
The
minister later issued a clarification, saying that “some political leaders are
trying to spread negative propaganda without reading the letter.”
Qadri
said in his letter to the prime minister he had recommended celebrating
International Hijab Day on March 8.
He
noted that female students in India were facing violence and mental anguish due
to their decision to wear the hijab, referring to the recent ban on the
headscarf in some Indian states.
He
said that organisations fighting for women's rights had also raised their
voices against growing extremism and Islamophobia in India.
In
pictures: Women take to streets in Mumbai as hijab row expands in India
The
minister said that Pakistani society was not too liberal, devoid of basic human
rights or rigid in terms of religious values, suggesting that “our society
should have a moderate character”.
"Obscenity
and immodesty under the guise of rights should not be allowed under any
circumstances," he said, adding that the contents of the letter were clear
and reflected the collective thinking of Pakistani society.
Source:
Dawn
--------
A
Saudi woman's iPhone revealed NSO group's web around the world
February
17, 2022
A
single activist helped turn the tide against NSO Group, one of the world’s most
sophisticated spyware companies now facing a cascade of legal action and
scrutiny in Washington over damaging new allegations that its software was used
to hack government officials and dissidents around the world.
It
all started with a software glitch on her iPhone.
An
unusual error in NSO’s spyware allowed Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain
al-Hathloul and privacy researchers to discover a trove of evidence suggesting
the Israeli spyware maker had helped hack her iPhone, according to six people
involved in the incident. A mysterious fake image file within her phone,
mistakenly left behind by the spyware, tipped off security researchers.
The
discovery on al-Hathloul’s phone last year ignited a storm of legal and
government action that has put NSO on the defensive.
Al-Hathloul,
one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent activists, is known for helping lead a
campaign to end the ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia. She was released from
jail in February 2021 on charges of harming national security.
Soon
after, the activist received an email from Google warning her that state-backed
hackers had tried to penetrate her Gmail account. Fearful that her iPhone had
been hacked as well, al-Hathloul contacted the Canadian privacy rights group
Citizen Lab and asked them to probe her device for evidence, three people close
to al-Hathloul told Reuters.
After
six months of digging through her iPhone records, Citizen Lab researcher Bill
Marczak made what he described as an unprecedented discovery: a malfunction in
the surveillance software implanted on her phone had left a copy of the
malicious image file, rather than deleting itself, after stealing the messages
of its target.
He
said the finding, computer code left by the attack, was direct evidence NSO
built the espionage tool. “It was a game changer,” said Marczak. “We caught
something that the company thought was uncatchable.” The discovery amounted to
a hacking blueprint and led Apple to notify thousands of other state-backed
hacking victims around the world, according to sources.
Citizen
Lab and al-Hathloul’s find provided the basis for Apple’s November 2021 lawsuit
against NSO and it also reverberated in Washington, where US officials learned
that NSO’s cyberweapon was used to spy even on American diplomats.
In
a statement, an NSO spokesperson said the company does not operate the hacking
tools it sells —government, law enforcement and intelligence agencies do. The
spokesperson did not answer questions on whether its software was used to
target al-Hathloul or other activists.
Discovering
the blueprint
Al-Hathloul
had good reason to be suspicious — it was not the first time she was being
watched.
A
2019 Reuters investigation revealed that she was targeted in 2017 by a team of
US mercenaries who surveilled dissidents on behalf of the United Arab Emirates
under a secret program called Project Raven, which categorised her as a
‘national security threat’ and hacked into her iPhone.
She
was arrested and jailed in Saudi Arabia for almost three years, where her
family says she was tortured and interrogated utilising information stolen from
her device. Al-Hathloul was released in February 2021 and is banned from
leaving the country.
Al-Hathloul’s
experience of surveillance and imprisonment made her determined to gather
evidence that could be used against those who wield these tools, said her
sister Lina al-Hathloul. The type of spyware Citizen Lab discovered on
al-Hathloul’s iPhone is known as a ‘zero click,’ meaning the user can be
infected without ever clicking on a malicious link.
Zero-click
malware usually deletes itself upon infecting a user, leaving researchers and
tech companies without a sample of the weapon to study. But this time was
different.
Source:
Business Standard
--------
Pakistan:
Women’s commission to challenge acquittal in QandeelBaloch case
February
17, 2022
Sana
Jamal
Islamabad:
As women activists are rallying against the pardon of the brother of
QandeelBaloch, Pakistan’s national commission on women has announced to
challenge the acquittal.
National
Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), an autonomous statutory body, has
announced plans to appeal the verdict before the Supreme Court following the
acquittal of WaseemBaloch for the murder of his sister and outspoken social
media star QandeelBaloch.
“The
NCSW has grave concerns about the release of QandeelBaloch’s murderer. The
early release of a criminal convicted for the heinous crime of honour killing
is unconscionable” said NCSW chairperson NilofarBakhtiar. NCSW will appeal to
the Supreme Court against Lahore High Court’s acquittal order and “pursue
justice for QandeelBaloch,” she said.
Strong
message against honour killings
The
move aims to send a strong message to the people that the heinous crime of
killing women in the name of family honour will no longer be tolerated by
society and courts.
In
2016, Pakistan’s parliament unanimously passed legislation against honour
killings, guaranteeing mandatory 25 years in prison for convicted murderers
even if pardoned by the victim’s family. The law was passed months after the
murder of 26-year-old QandeelBaloch.
Six
years later, the court decided to acquit Qandeel’s killer and his brother,
WaseemBaloch, after their parents said they had forgiven their son. Waseem was
sentenced to life in prison after confessing to killing Baloch in July 2016,
saying the star had brought shame on the family.
Pakistan’s
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Pakistanis should be “ashamed” of
a legal system that had acquitted the slain social media star and called for
judicial reforms in the country.
Source:GulfNews
--------
From
Turkish jail, French woman accuses Greece of ‘pushback’
18
February, 2022
BARCELONA,
Spain (AP) — A French woman is accusing Greek authorities of forcing her and
other migrants back across the border into Turkey, violating her rights both as
a person fleeing persecution and as a European citizen.
In
court documents seen by The Associated Press, the 32-year-old woman, who has
Turkish as well as French citizenship, claims she and her husband were trying
to flee Turkey to escape prison sentences that were politically motivated.
They
crossed the Evros River by boat into Greece on the way to France, where the
woman was born and raised. But she says Greek officials mistreated her and
turned her back; she is now in prison in Turkey. From her cell, the woman, who
asked to remain anonymous for her safety, plans to file a lawsuit against
Greece on Friday at the European Court of Human Rights.
While
so-called “pushbacks” of migrants have become increasingly common despite
violating European and international law, experts say the French woman’s story
appears to be the first such case brought to court involving a European
citizen.
“We
have moved from allegations to it being a public secret that pushbacks are
engaged in by the Greek authorities on a regular basis,” said Hanne Beirens,
director of Migration Policy Institute Europe. “This would be quite a unique
case…Because it would show how indiscriminately the Greek authorities are
acting and how it affects people from all backgrounds.”
For
years, journalists, lawyers and human rights organizations have documented
pushbacks by Greece of migrants and refugees across sea or land borders,
denying them the right to asylum procedures. Under the principle of
non-refoulement in European and international human rights law, people cannot
be returned to a country where they would face torture, punishment or harm.
Greek
authorities did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by the AP to
the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, the Ministry of Citizen Protection and
the Greek embassy in Paris. However, Greece released a statement Thursday
evening after a joint-media investigation alleged a separate pushback involving
two asylum seekers later found dead on the Aegean coast.
“Greece
protects the external borders of the European Union, in full compliance with
international law and in full respect of the charter of fundamental rights,”
said NotisMitarachi, Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum.
The
French woman’s story is laid out in court statements from her, her husband and
her sister, including illustrations she did from prison. The AP also drew on
interviews with her sister in Paris and one of her lawyers; documents including
her French passport, French national ID and French marriage papers; emails,
call logs, and screen shots of texts and GPS data the woman shared in real time
with a lawyer.
Born
to Turkish parents, the woman left France in 2013 to pursue undergraduate
studies in Turkey. In April 2018, she and her now-husband were among dozens of
students rounded up and accused of belonging to the “Fethullahist Terror
Organization” or FETO. The couple deny all accusations.
At
the time, Turkey had launched a massive crackdown against followers of
U.S.-based Muslim preacher FethullahGulen, after a failed military coup in
2016. The government designated the network as a terrorist organization and
sentenced close to 5,000 people to prison, according to the state-run Anadolu
Agency.
The
French woman was detained for 11 days but released on parole. A few months
later, she was sentenced to more than six years in prison, which she appealed.
In June last year, her prison sentence and her husband’s were confirmed by the
Supreme Court. They ultimately decided to flee, selling the family jewelry to pay
smugglers to get to Greece.
The
woman’s family trusted that once she stepped foot in Greece, a European Union
country and part of the Schengen area, Europe’s visa-free travel zone, she
would be safe. As the couple crossed Greece’s eastern border on the morning of
Oct. 19, 2021, her family anxiously awaited news from their home 90 km outside
Paris. They followed the woman’s movements on a real-time location tracking
app.
At
9:38 a.m., the woman sent a text message on What’sApp: “We have passed.”
Her
family proceeded to contact both French and Greek authorities, saying the
couple needed help.
“They
are victims of persecution by the current Turkish government,” read their
email, which they followed up with phone calls. “We are VERY VERY worried for
them!”
Shortly
after, Greek officials stopped the couple, the lawsuit alleges. After they
presented her French ID, a copy of her French passport and the French family
booklet that proved their marriage, the officers asked them to kneel. They then
took the couple’s telephones, power bank, clothes and food and cut their
shoelaces, according to the statement.
The
woman says they were taken in the back of a truck to a “closed box” inside a
gated area and kept there for hours with other migrants, some from Afghanistan
who were barefoot. She says officers slapped one of them.
Meanwhile,
in France, her family had lost contact with her and was getting increasingly
worried. Her sisters scrambled to call and email both Greek and French
authorities.
After
they shared their concern that their sister would be returned to Turkey, an
official at the Greek embassy in Paris sent a text message in French: “Since
she has a French passport, there is no problem(...)Calm down. There is no
danger in Greece.”
The
man confirmed to the AP that he had been in contact with the woman’s family but
said he was not authorized to speak to the press. Requests for comment to the
Greek embassy in Paris were not answered. The woman’s family say they also
exchanged several phone calls with the French consulate in Thessaloniki, and
sent an email with the woman’s last known location and a copy of her passport.
After
being detained for several hours, the migrants were rounded up onto a truck and
taken to the Evrosriver, the woman says. They were made to board an inflatable
boat without life vests.
“We
continued to beg them not to send us back, explaining to them I was French and
that we were persecuted in Turkey,” she says in her statement.
She
spoke to officials in French and English, to no avail. They were caught by
Turkish soldiers on the other side and taken to a police station, she says. The
next day, they were in prison.
“We
are totally disappointed with Greek authorities,” her sister told the AP in
Paris, asking to remain anonymous to protect her safety. “We didn’t think they
would return a persecuted person back to the persecutor.”
“We
are equally disappointed with French authorities because we were abandoned,”
she said.
Since
then, she said, her family has written countless letters to French and European
Union lawmakers and officials, and even to French President Emmanuel Macron,
asking for help. The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs told the AP
in a written statement that officials in Paris, Greece and Turkey “had
maintained a close relationship with (the woman’s) family from the moment they
were alerted to her situation.”
They
said they are also seeking a consular visit to the woman in prison in Turkey.
There, she told her sister, she has been stripped naked for searches three
times. In the first prison she was taken to, she said, she shared a cell with
mice.
Catherine
Briddick, a lecturer in International Human Rights and Refugee Law at Oxford
University, said the woman’s case “shows the absurdity of Fortress Europe.”
“(It)
should give pause to European citizens everywhere to think about what these
policies are doing to us, as well as to the people we’re trying to keep out,”
she said.
Omer
Shatz, a lawyer representing the French woman along with Violeta Moreno-Lax and
Francesco Gatta, argues their client was a victim of increasing racial
discrimination at the borders of Europe.
“She
was really begging to them, showing them her (French) IDs and travel documents
but was ignored,” said Shatz, legal director of Front-Lex, which challenges EU
migration policies. “Why? Because the way she looks. Probably Muslim, probably
looking like a refugee, probably not white.”
Migration
has been brought to the center stage of the French presidential campaign, with
both Macron and his opponents on the right and far-right taking ever stronger
stances against irregular crossings. European countries have spent billions on
surveillance technology at their borders, despite growing accusations of human
rights violations.
A
European Commission spokesperson said it doesn’t comment on ongoing legal
proceedings but is “concerned about any reports of pushbacks and
mistreatment....Efficient border management must be firmly rooted in the
respect of human dignity and the principle of non-refoulement.” The French
woman’s family says they received a similar response to a letter they sent the
commission.
“The
EU, unfortunately, has declared that Greece was the shield of Europe…it frees
the Greek authorities from many constraints,” said Francois Crepeau, a
professor at McGill University in Canada and a former UN special rapporteur on
the human rights of migrants. While in public many European officials will
condemn pushbacks as illegal, he said, “in fact, they’re quite happy that
Greece is doing the dirty job for everyone else.”
Source:
AP News
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-france-prisons-greece-europe-1c58212ff10310deebae2b769d31e386
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