04 October 2004	Monday	18 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 3: A two-day international seminar will commence here on Tuesday to deliberate on the factors that encouraged immigration to Europe from South Asia, particularly the Muslim world and the impact of 9/11 tragedy.

The seminar on "Immigration to Europe from South Asia and the Muslim world" is being organized by the Area Study Centre for Europe of the University of Karachi, in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

Participants would examine the factors that initially led to mass exodus from the region to Europe without any let, and a sudden change and growing wariness towards Muslim immigrants in particular in the post-9/11 situation.

Issues connected with multiculturalism and integration of the immigrant community would be in focus during the two-day deliberations. In the context of xenophobia attitude of the secular democracies of Europe, the focus would also be on the presence of Muslim religious symbols in the European public space, and the debates, interaction and negotiations that are taking place at different levels (political, institutional, media and public opinion, religious actors).

In this context, deliberations on the recent French law banning the headscarf and other 'conspicuous' religious symbols in schools and public administration which had brought to the surface the uncomfortable issue of the role of Muslim minorities in European societies would also be of immense significance, especially when a similar debate on Islamic headscarves was, in fact, being conducted in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Turkey's persistence to get into Europe, despite Giscard d' Estaing's remarks that "its access to the European Union would be the end of the organization" would also be an interesting moot point.