Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Khaled Abbas Rami has declared that any restaurants or tourism facilities found to be banning women dressed in the hijab (headscarf) from service will be shut down. In an interview with El-Watan, the Minister said that no decision or order had been pushed by the Ministry regulating veiled women from entering restaurants or tourism establishments. “Given that 90 percent of women in Egypt wear the hijab, we haven’t, and we won’t, take such a decision,” said the Minister. “We refuse discrimination in all its forms, whether its based on dress, skin color or religion,” continued the Minister, adding that the government will take “immediate steps” to “shut down any restaurant or tourism facility” that discriminates on these bases. Citing an earlier decision, the Minister said that he had apologized personally to a Saudi tourist that had been denied entry at a restaurant in Sheikh Zayed (Greater Cairo). The restaurant was also reportedly shut down for a month over the incident that was captured on camera and released on YouTube. Outrage grows on social media The Minister’s latest statements come as many Egyptian women have taken to…
All Restaurants That Ban Veiled Women Will Be Shut Down: Egyptian Minister
August 3, 2015
