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2014

  • October 2014:

on 14 October 2014 an agreement was signed between the government of the City State of Bremen and Alevi federations, following the example agreement signed previously in other Länder (Hamburg, Lower Saxony…). Henceforth, Alevi religious festivals are officially recognised in Bremen. Alevi employees will therefore have the right not to work (they will have to take a day off) on such occasions and Alevi schoolchildren will be able to benefit from school exemptions.

For the municipality of Bremen, it is a question above all of showing that Alevis have the same rights as other citizens, whether Protestant, Catholic or Jewish. It should, however, be noted that Alevis consider themselves an autonomous, non-Muslim belief group, whereas they are generally perceived to be a branch of Islam by non-Muslims. Today, nearly 10,000 people of Alevi confession live in Bremen and nearly 800,000 in Germany.

Source: Pressestelle des Senats-Bremen, Radiobremen and Hürriyet Daily News.

  • April 2014:

following a complaint made by a Muslim pupil, the administrative court of appeal in Bavaria stipulated in its judgment of 22 April 2014 that the existing school authority ban on wearing the niqab cannot be regarded as a violation of religious freedom, due to the fact that the niqab hampers non-verbal communication between teacher and pupil.

For further information: Süddeutsche.

  • March 2014: Modification to funeral legislation in Baden-Württemberg:

The Parliament of Baden-Württemberg, a Land which numbers nearly 650,000 Muslims and is led by a Green Party minister-president and a coalition made up of Greens and SPD, has just passed in late March 2014 a law modifying funeral rites which will make it possible for Muslims to be buried in accordance with the requirements of their religion. There is no longer the obligation to use a coffin for funerals of Muslims - they can henceforth be buried in a simple shroud - nor the statutory 48 hour period between time of death and burial.
In spite of reservations by Christian Democrats who feared that this measure would open the floodgates to massive numbers of coffin-less burials, the law was passed unanimously by the four parliamentary groups represented in the regional parliament (Greens, SPD, CDU, FDP). Minister for integration Bilkay Öney (SPD) saw this amendment as taking into account religious diversity and making a contribution to the integration of Muslims.
This possibility exists in several other Länder (in Lower Saxony, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland) and the first Muslim cemetery is to be inaugurated in Wuppertal in 2014.

For further information: Bayern 2, Migazin, Stuttgarter Zeitung and Die Welt.

D 30 October 2014    ASylvie Toscer-Angot

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