15 year old Gurpreet Singh was a proud Sikh teenager in Panjab who had been wearing his patka to school since he was three and was soon to start wearing his Turban. That was before his family moved to Belgium. Today, he attends his Catholic school in Brugge, Belgium bareheaded, with his unshorn hair tied in a ponytail. This is despite a case won by UNITED SIKHS lawyers last year in the Belgian Supreme Court (Conseil d’etat), which ruled that two Sikh boys who attended another type of school should be allowed to wear their patke (head coverings) to school. UNITED SIKHS’ advocacy battle for turbans in Belgium continues as we move from the courtroom to the Church, so that civil society recognizes that a Sikh’s turban constitutes his identity.
Today, December 10th, 2015, we celebrate the 65th annual Human Rights Day–a day officiated by the United Nations (UN) in 1950 to commemorate the importance of global human and civil rights. While there is still work to be done to protect the fundamental freedoms and innate rights of all, UNITED SIKHS made great strides towards this ideal all over the world this year. As a UN-affiliated organization, we are dedicated to advocating on behalf of minority communities in every corner of the world.
It is only through your support that we were able to sustain these efforts this year, and prepare to protect Human Rights in 2016: Currently, our team is set to launch our European Refugee Relief Effort in the coming weeks, through which we aim to serve hot meals to thousands of Syrian refugees arriving in Macedonia, Europe everyday. If you are interested in volunteering with us for this effort, please email us at volunteer@unitedsikhs.org. Our team is tirelessly working towards protecting everyone’s rights. Please support us in our efforts.
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Issued By-
Jaspreet Kaur
Staff Attorney, International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy (ICHRA), UNITED SIKHS
P: (+1) 646-688-3525
E: law-global@unitedsikhs.org
