The controversy continued in France against the backdrop of the Interior Ministry's request on Sunday for some educational institutions to conduct an "assessment of the absenteeism rate recorded on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr."
Minister of State for Citizenship Sonia Bakis said in a statement Sunday that "the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas regularly examines the impact of certain religious holidays on the proper functioning of public services, particularly in the school field."
In this context, the heads of some educational departments were asked to assess the absenteeism rate on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr last April.
"No name or statistical data was requested at any time," the minister said, adding that the initiative did not imply a desire to "put in place" files" for students according to their religion.
At the Toulouse Academy (southwest), police asked the heads of educational departments via email to inform them of the number of students who were absent on Eid al-Fitr day.
Anxiety and shock
Union officials and politicians have expressed concern about the police initiative, with some, such as former Socialist MP Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, talking about "setting up profiles all over the city".
An anti-racism group said the policemen's request was "particularly shocking, because it links a Muslim religious practice to a security issue".
She wondered: What other religious holidays did the Ministry of Interior request to assess the rate of absenteeism from the heads of educational departments?!
For its part, the Union of Mosques of France called for an "appropriate investigation" and stressed that "families must be properly informed and reassured about what will happen with information provided by some heads of educational institutions who unfortunately responded to the request of the police."