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– I consider this more as a contribution from the authorities in an attempt to influence the legal process, he tells TT.
It refers to the review of the veiling ban decision that is ongoing in the Malmö administrative court. DO shouldn’t have started an inspection against Skurup at the same time, he believes.
– I think it is remarkable that you do it when you know that there is already a legal process in progress, says Johan Bolinder.
Preschools and schools
The municipality has adopted a preschool and elementary school dress policy that prohibits “headscarves, burqas, niqabs, and other clothing that are intended to conceal students and staff.” The idea is for it to become part of Skurup’s integration policy, but after the decision was appealed to a court, the municipality has delayed its implementation.
The DO, after its oversight, concluded that the purpose of the clothing policy appears to be to prohibit clothing with religious brands. Therefore, the DO concludes that the dress policy constitutes a violation of the prohibition against direct discrimination related to religion or other beliefs.
“Although the policy, according to its wording, affects all clothing that is hidden from students and staff of the municipality’s preschool and elementary schools, the purpose is precisely to prohibit clothing with religious marks,” DO writes in a statement from press.
Three parties are behind
Three parties are behind the clothing policy: SD, M, and the local Skurup party. They believe that there is support in the European Convention for the decision.
– We believe that it is important that the Swedish school is not denominational. You should be able to feel safe going to school without being exposed to the religious pressure that this type of clothing could put, for example, on a particular student, says Johan Bolinder, adding:
– There is also a voluntary aspect; that younger girls who wear veils should do so of their own free will and not because someone else asks them to.
The former director is not surprised
Former director Mattias Liedholm on Skurup, who she refused to impose a ban on the veil at her schoolPrästamosseskolan is not surprised by the decision of the Ombudsman against discrimination.
– DO makes the same evaluation as me and it is a decision that I expected. It is good that the matter is investigated. Now I am awaiting the decision of the administrative court on the same issue, he tells SVT News.
The municipality of Skurup has stopped the introduction of the veil ban as it has been appealed. The matter will be decided in the administrative court.
At the end of September, we met Maya, who goes to Prästamosseskolan in Skurup, where she is one of twenty veiled students:
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