Hijab
costs woman French residency
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A Moroccan woman living legally in France for eight years has been refused a long-term residence card because she covers her hair with an Islamic headscarf, says her lawyer.
A regional government official wrote in a rejection letter this
month that the scarf worn by Chetouani El Khamsa was a sign of Islamic
fundamentalism, her lawyer Pascale Torgemen said on Thursday. Torgemen said El Khamsa planned to appeal and to file a suit for
what she contends is a discriminatory, racist and sexist decision. "Does this mean that a man with a beard is systematically
Islamist, a fundamentalist?" the lawyer said. But in a 2 November letter refusing her the 10-year card,
Francois Praver, sub-prefect in the town of Raincy outside Paris, noted that
during her interview, El Khamsa wore a headscarf "entirely covering your neck
and the roots of your hair, comparable to a hijab, sign of belonging to a
fundamentalist Islam". The lawyer gave a copy of the letter to The Associated
Press. Hijab ban France, looking to uphold its secular foundations, last year
banned Muslim headscarves and other conspicuous religious symbols from public
schools. But the ban does not apply outside of classrooms. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said women cannot wear
head coverings in official identity photos. But Torgemen said that her client
does not wear her scarf for official photos - her head is uncovered in her
Moroccan passport. Torgemen said she had not previously heard of a case of women
being refused the 10-year residency card because their heads are
covered. El Khamsa and her family are "people without a history, without
problems", the lawyer said. "For me, this is discrimination. They compare the fact that one
wears a scarf to fundamentalist Islam," she said. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
El Khamsa has lived
legally in France - where her four children were born - since 1997, employed by
her husband's business. To replace her current residence card, which must be
renewed annually, she wanted a residency permit that is valid for 10 years, like
the one accorded her husband.