09 June 2016

Hand-shaking row over Muslim border inspector

Sweden introduced police border controls in November last year in an effort to keep the number of asylum seekers down. To help officers carry out the checks, 72 trained civilian ID controllers were brought in.

One of these civilian inspectors recently sparked tension for not shaking the hands of his female colleagues, on the grounds that it violated his Muslim faith. Instead, he is said to have placed his hand over his heart in greeting.

But several employees took offence, according to Swedish state television SVT.

"He did not shake my hand when we said hello. I don't want to speak more about it, because I have chosen to hand it over to management," one of the female police officers working with the man told the broadcaster. [The Local] Read more