Oslo - Norway will not go ahead with plans to allow women
police officers to wear the hijab - the Muslim headscarf - as part of
their uniform, the justice minister said Friday.
Knut Storberget and his ministry has come under fire after the
recent proposal to change regulations for police uniforms to allow
religious headwear to be used was announced.
'Today we have decided not to go ahead with the proposed changes,'
Storberget told reporters.
He cited discussions with the police, other parties including the
Labour Party which is the main force in the red-green coalition as
factors that contributed to the decision to drop the idea.
'We concluded this is not a sufficiently strong measure to recruit
minorities' to the police force, he said.
The justice ministry probe was launched after a 23-year-old Muslim
woman last year asked if it was possible to wear the hijab during
police training and as a trained police officer.
Storberget said efforts would continue to increase recruitment
from representatives of people from all walks of life, ethnicity and
faith traditions.
The minister's statement was welcomed by the Norwegian Police
Federation that has opposed any form of religious headwear, saying
the police force had to be viewed as neutral. That stance was also
supported by members of minorities in the force, the union said.
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