Health and safety issues: French summer camp workers sacked over Ramazan fast
Tensions between French authorities and the country’s Islamic community resurfaced on Tuesday after it emerged that four summer camp instructors had been sacked for fasting during Ramazan.
In a row that echoed last year’s controversy over a law banning women from wearing full veils on French territory, Muslim leaders denounced a Communist-run town council’s dismissal of the workers on health and safety grounds.
The four had been employed temporarily by the town of Genevilliers in the Paris suburbs to help run a summer holiday sports camp in southwestern France.
They were dismissed on July 20, the first day of Ramazan, after an inspector visited the camp and told them they were endangering children’s safety by not eating or drinking between dawn and dusk.
Although they were fully paid for the week they had remaining on their short-term contracts, the instructors plan to contest their dismissal through labour courts.
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) described the town’s actions as “an attack on religious freedom” and said it was considering pressing charges against Genevilliers council for discrimination.
CFCM President Mohammed Moussaoui added: “Hundreds of millions of people fast for Ramazan every year without it having any impact on their professional activities.”
Genevilliers Mayor Jacques Bourgoin defended the decision to remove the four employees from the camp, a stance which won strong backing from the far-right National Front.
“This lack of nourishment and hydration could have resulted in these employees not being in full possession of the means required to ensure that activities at the camp were correctly and safely run, as well as the physical safety of the children in their charge,” said a statement issued by the mayor’s office.
Nicole Varet, an aide to the mayor, said three years ago a fasting camp worker had been taken ill while driving, resulting in an accident in which a child was seriously injured.
But the four sacked workers believe the safety argument is a smokescreen for anti-Muslim prejudice.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 1st, 2012.
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this is totally absurd. I have even done interpretation work while fasting and its hasn't affected my work a bit. I really don't buy this argument of comparing French system with Pakistan or Saudi Arabia and others... at the end of the day, it is the french that have been going around the world, and still do so, claiming to hold the flag of democracy and freedom... never heard of Pakistan trying to help bring "democracy and freedom" in another part of the world... for all their interventions in all other countries affairs in the name of democracy and freedom, they should at least do that in their own country... SHAME!
Though I'm not Muslim nor do I fast, there have been plenty of times my single mindedness while doing certain things resulted in the same circumstances and the reason they gave is just plain stupid.
Now this is called real Islamophobia...when will the GCC countries start sacking french workers for drinking alchohol and the accidents caused by these...not to mention the hang overs affecting work productivity!!
@Hasan: Laws may be messed up in Pakistan but lets not use them as a justification to mess freedom in France.
the way to go France! this is why you people are true liberals.
@ Hassan what a delusioned comment !!
The law based on eating in front of a fasting person is based on the offensive nature of the act, but what constitutes offense in French camp workers act. I can bet the authorities knew before hiring the workers that Ramadan would begin during the term of contract, why did they not include 'fasting' as an offense in the terms & conditions ???
...three years ago a fasting camp worker had been taken ill while driving, resulting in an accident in which a child was seriously injured.
Every year numerous people including children get killed by sharks, why don't they kill all sharks or abstain people/children from beaches at all !!
Before anyone flies off the handle condemning the french for their "discrimination" i would like you to first consider the fact that in Pakistan those who do not fast (for whichever reason) are bound by LAW to not consume anything in the vicinity of anybody who is fasting. We have our laws just as the french have theirs. If your own nation is willing to jail and punish those who might consume something in public, it would be highly hypocritical to moan about another nation exercising its sovereign right.