In 2006, S. Achbita was fired when she started wearing a headscarf at work. The case came before the Labour Court of Antwerp (2009), the Court of Cassation (2015), the Court of Justice of the European Union (2017) and the Labour Court of Ghent (2020). Below you can find a full chronology. 

"Improving equality data collection in Belgium" (IEDCB) is a Belgian project co-funded by the European Commission's Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme. It is carried out in partnership by the Equal Opportunities Team (FOD Justitie - SPF Justice) and Unia.

From a human rights perspective, the decree on face masks is particularly interesting, especially if we take into account the fact that in some European countries wearing full-face veils in public spaces is prohibited by law and can lead to sanctions (i.e. fines, prison, administrative fines).

Last year Unia opened a total of 2,017 cases of situations where people felt they were the subject of discrimination. This represents a 6% increase over 2016 (1,907 cases). Instances of employment discrimination were the most frequently opened cases at Unia. 

Out of all survey-respondents of North African and Turkish origin who experienced discrimination in the past year in Belgium, 20% said it had occurred on the job market, while the European average on this point is 12%. This figure was brought to Unia’s attention in the Second EU-MIDIS report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

‘The Achbita case must be retried. The Court of Cassation has overturned the previous ruling of the Antwerp labour court because it inadequately examined whether Ms Achbita’s dismissal was discriminatory,’ Unia says. 

Many Muslims in Europe are still confronted with discrimination, physical violence and harassment, despite the fact that most of them feel a strong connection to their country of residence. This is the conclusion of the FRA in a new report. The FRA is the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. The report is based on material including responses from 25,000 residents of Europe with a migration background.

Fouad Belkacem is not exonerated by the European Court: his video messages in which he, among other things, calls for fighting against non-Muslims do not fall under freedom of expression. The ruling of the European Court is good news for Unia. In the past Unia has repeatedly filed complaints against Sharia4Belgium, and we were a civil party in the case in the criminal court of Antwerp.

The administrator of the Facebook page of the Vlaamse Verdedigings Liga [Flemish Defence League] has received a ten months’ suspended sentence. According to the Antwerp court he incited his followers to racism. Unia was a civil party.

A private company can only prohibit the headscarf for those workers who have visual contact with the customers. That is what the European Court of Justice ruled on March 14th.