PRESS RELEASE: FEMYSO denounces French report’s exclusionary narrative and attack on Muslim civil society 

(French below)

Brussels, Wednesday 21 May 2025 

The Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) expresses deep concern at the French government’s recently published report and strongly condemns the defamatory and politically driven narrative which aims to delegitimise Muslim civil society actors — including our organisation — through vague and unsubstantiated allegations framed as national security concerns. We were never contacted or consulted in the drafting process- a glaring omission that mirrors the very exclusion the report attempts to normalise. 

FEMYSO is a proudly youth-led and democratic organisation. We categorically reject any attempt to associate us with political entities and urge the French government to reconsider the long-term consequences of policies that alienate its own citizens. French Muslims are part and parcel of the national fabric – engaged, proud, and committed to their society. 

It is particularly troubling that this report employs Islamophobic tropes and unsubstantiated claims at a time when constructive dialogue is most needed. We have seen similar rhetorical strategies in the public debate following the brutal murder of Aboubakar Cissé – moments when serious societal issues are avoided by stirring artificial controversies around terms like Islamophobia.  

FEMYSO remains steadfast in our mission to promote dignity, pluralism, and democratic participation. Today we have sent an official letter to the French Minister of the Interior, inviting him to meet with us and our members, experience first-hand the civic work our organisation does across Europe. We believe that engagement and dialogue – not exclusion and suspicion – are the foundations of a diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.  

We call upon European institutions, civil society actors, and all defenders of democratic values to stand firm against this dangerous trend to marginalise and silence European Muslim communities under the pretext of security.  

[END] 

1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 32 Muslim youth and student organisations across 20 European countries, and is the leading voice for European Muslim youth, developing and empowering them, and working to build a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe. 

2. FEMYSO responds to false allegations on links to Muslim Brotherhood  

3. Smear campaign investigation statement: 

4. FEMYSO New Yorker statement: https://femyso.org/femyso-new-yorker-statement/  

5. Further clarifications on our organization and its governance can be found on the FAQ page.  

6. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org   

COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE 

FEMYSO dénonce le récit excluant du rapport français et l’attaque contre la société civile musulmane 

Bruxelles, mercredi 21 mai 2025 

Le Forum Européen des Organisations Musulmanes Étudiantes et de Jeunesse (FEMYSO) exprime sa profonde inquiétude face au rapport récemment publié par le gouvernement français et condamne fermement le récit diffamatoire et politiquement motivé visant à délégitimer les acteurs de la société civile musulmane – y compris notre organisation – à travers des allégations vagues et non fondées, présentées sous couvert de préoccupations sécuritaires. Nous n’avons jamais été contactés ni consultés dans le cadre de l’élaboration de ce rapport – une omission flagrante qui reflète l’exclusion même que ce document cherche à normaliser. 

FEMYSO est une organisation fièrement dirigée par des jeunes et fondée sur des principes démocratiques. Nous rejetons catégoriquement toute tentative de nous associer à des entités ideologiques et appelons le gouvernement français à reconsidérer les conséquences à long terme de politiques qui marginalisent ses propres citoyens. Les musulmans de France font partie intégrante du tissu national – engagés, fiers et investis dans leur société. 

Il est particulièrement préoccupant que ce rapport reprenne des clichés islamophobes et des affirmations sans fondement, à un moment où le dialogue constructif est plus que jamais nécessaire. Nous avons observé des stratégies rhétoriques similaires dans le débat public qui a suivi l’assassinat brutal d’Aboubakar Cissé – des moments où des enjeux sociétaux réels sont évités en suscitant des controverses artificielles autour de termes comme l’islamophobie. 

FEMYSO reste fermement engagé dans sa mission de promotion de la dignité, du pluralisme et de la participation démocratique. Aujourd’hui, nous avons adressé une lettre officielle au Ministre de l’Intérieur français, l’invitant à rencontrer notre organisation et nos membres, afin de découvrir directement le travail civique que nous menons à travers l’Europe. Nous croyons que l’engagement et le dialogue – et non l’exclusion et la suspicion – sont les fondements d’une Europe diverse, cohésive et dynamique. 

Nous appelons les institutions européennes, les acteurs de la société civile et tous les défenseurs des valeurs démocratiques à résister fermement à cette tendance dangereuse de marginalisation et de réduction au silence des communautés musulmanes européennes sous prétexte de sécurité. 

[FIN] 

  1. FEMYSO (fondé en 1996) est une organisation de réseau regroupant 32 organisations de jeunesse et d’étudiants musulmans dans 20 pays européens. Il constitue la voix principale de la jeunesse musulmane européenne, œuvrant à son développement et à son autonomisation, et travaillant à construire une Europe plus diverse, cohésive et dynamique. 
  1. FEMYSO répond aux fausses allégations de liens avec les Frères musulmans. 
  1. Déclaration concernant l’enquête sur la campagne de diffamation. 
  1. Déclaration du FEMYSO en réponse à l’article du New Yorker :  
  1. Des précisions supplémentaires sur notre organisation et sa gouvernance sont disponibles sur notre page FAQ. 
  1. Pour plus d’informations ou pour toute demande, veuillez écrire à: media@femyso.org 

World Hijab Day 2022 #HandsOffMyHijab

Today marks World Hijab Day 2022. What is clear, is that the importance of this day has only increased since its inception – FEMYSO alongside our civil society partners would like to reiterate the clear statement #HandsOffMyHijab.  

The constant attack on the Hijab is centred in a patriarchal view that those in power have the right to legislate on women’s bodies. What a woman chooses to wear (and not to wear) is her own decision and those that seek to undermine this basic fundamental right should be seen as pariah.  

It is hypocrisy of the highest order to governments that seek to rightfully condemn other countries for human rights violations, to enact their own when it comes to the choice a Muslim woman makes whether to wear religious clothing.  

The recent decision by the French Senate to ban the Hijab in sports is one of many clear human rights violations that our region has seen. Sport is a unifying platform where one’s talent and work ethic should be the only consideration made. Instead, Muslim women now have to make the choice between wearing religious clothing and engaging in the sport they love.  

In July 2021, a political decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was passed which once again gives a free pass to employers to ban the headscarf. This saw the ECJ prioritise the financial interests of employers and prejudiced customers as more important than the rights of those who are perpetually made vulnerable and kept in a vicious circle of discrimination. 

FEMYSO President Hande Taner said ‘My choice to wear the Hijab was my own and one that has led to numerous barriers being placed in front of me in my pursuit to help shape a more just world. The efforts by many across our region to limit Muslim women like myself due to this aspect of my faith is a shameful endeavour that the generations to come will look upon with shame – #HandsOffMyHijab and the Hijabs of all the incredible young women I represent across our region.’  

As part of our work to tackle Gendered Islamophobia, FEMYSO has launched a survey that seeks to tackle the issues faced by Muslim women in the job market, translated into 8 languages, please take part here.  

We once again call upon EU Member States to stop their obsession with Muslim women’s bodies. We call on the EU and all its institutions to recognise the impact of Gendered Islamophobia on its citizens and to work alongside civil society to implement impactful and holistic policy to tackle this human rights violation.
 

  1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 33 Muslim youth and student organisations across 20 European countries, and is the leading voice for European Muslim youth, developing and empowering them, and working to build a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.     
  1. For more media-related information or requests please email media@femyso.org. 

Anti-Racism Action Plan (ARAP): 1-Year Anniversary Manifesto

It’s been a year since #BLM (Black Lives Matter) protests were successful in pushing the EU to create an EU Anti-Racism Action Plan. To truly start tackling racism over the next year, over 40 organisations have got solutions. We hope to work constructively with the European Commission to deliver change!

Rather than being protected by police, many racialised communities are victims of racist policing and violence.  The families of Stanislav Tomas, Adil or Ousman Sey are still waiting for justice, as are many more. We’re calling on the Commission to put an end to police brutality, discrimination and violence by extending the Race Equality Directive (RED) to cover law enforcement.

As President von der Leyen stated last year, it is time “to build a truly anti-racist Union – that goes from condemnation to action.” The Commission has promised to ensure that all Member States put forward National Action Plans Against Racism (NAPARs). With COVID-19 devastating our communities in some of the worst ways, we’re calling for these action plans to be finalised, and delivered by 2022. 

It’s time racial justice is mainstreamed in ALL policy areas. Racism does not happen in a vacuum. It’s structural. Let’s include racial justice in climate, digital, economic, education, employment, foreign, defence, gender, migration and security policy. With the increased targeting, arrests and outright banning of anti-racism activists and organisations across Europe, we’re calling on the European Commission to closely scrutinise developments in the Member States and provide concrete support for anti-racist human rights defenders and organisations at risk.

We’re calling for the EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism to work together with civil society in the organisation of the EU Anti-Racism Summit under the French Presidency in March 2022 and to ensure a dynamic and interactive meeting with a focus on structural racism, as well as high-level participation including the President of the Commission and Heads of States.

We want to see the EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism ensure meaningful and regular dialogue between the European Commission and civil society organisations led by racialised groups, communities and organisations.

Finally, it’s time that racialised people are properly represented in the EU institutions and agencies. 

We’re calling on the relevant bodies of the various institutions to put forward its proposals on creating a safe positive environment and strategy that will increase the representation of racialised people and others from underrepresented communities. 

 

To read the manifesto and see the list of civil society organisations, go here.

 

This statement is in cooperation with ENAR (European Network Against Racism), Equinox (Initiative for Racial Justice) and ERGO Network (European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network).

The EU Court of Justice institutionalises sexism and Islamophobia again

Brussels, 16 July 2021  

At FEMYSO, we are utterly outraged at the political decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which once again gives a free pass to employers to ban the Islamic headscarf. This is nothing less than a blatant reduction of the rights of visibly Muslim women in the EU, and thus nothing less than the institutionalisation of Islamophobia.  

Disguised under a layer of ‘neutrality’, the judgement in the joined cases C-804/18 and C-341/19, Wabe and Müller, on the right to wear religious clothing (headscarf) at work, solely panders to the prejudices of customers and employers by favouring racism over the right to non-discrimination. Indeed, the ECJ prioritises the financial interests of employers and prejudiced customers as more important than the rights of those who are perpetually made vulnerable and kept in a vicious circle of discrimination. This case demonstrates that Muslim lives are a justifiable exception to otherwise robust anti-discrimination legislation in the EU.  

Instead of acting as a powerful voice for the social and human aspect of European integration and protecting the rights of those who are most marginalised in our “Union of Equality”, this ruling provides a legal basis for further discrimination against Muslim Women in the job market. In simple terms, the prejudices of some are being placed above the human rights of others.

This political act adds to the hostile environment that Muslim communities face across our region. The 

Impact of islamophobia on our lives both in a structural sense – of which this is an example – and everyday prejudice, cannot be understated, with Muslim women most often as the biggest victims who.

We call on the European Court of Justice to revise this judgement, and EU Member States to stop the obsession with Muslim women’s bodies. We call on the EU and all its institutions to recognise the impact of Islamophobia on its citizens and to work alongside civil society to tackle this disease.

 

Notes   

  1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 33 Muslim youth and student organisations across 20 European countries, and is the leading voice for European Muslim youth, developing and empowering them, and working to build a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.  
  2. Graphic design credits: Limma Ali / Ali.Illustrate
  3. The Times, 15 July 2021 “Hijab can be banned at work, rules EU court” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hijab-can-be-banned-at-work-rules-eu-court-g8px0mlms?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1626347525  
  4. Al Jazeera, 15 July 2021 “Top EU court rules hijab can be banned at work” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/15/top-eu-court-rules-hijab-can-be-banned-at-work  
  5. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org.  

 

FEMYSO is shocked and saddened about the hate crime against the Jewish Museum in Brussels 

The Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) is shocked and saddened to hear of the heinous hate crime against the Jewish Museum in Brussels. This targeting of the Jewish community is yet another tragic sign of the rise of hate and xenophobia on the continent of Europe, the dangers of which are apparent from recent history. 

 

We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. We call on European authorities to take immediate action to address, prevent and prosecute such hate crimes and send a strong message that an attack on one community is an attack on all. 

 

The European Union’s motto, United in Diversity, must be more than a mere slogan. It is time for Europe to stand up for its values of human dignity, equality and respect for human rights. 

 

26/05/2014, FEMYSO PR team