Mixed swimming lessons: Turkish-Swiss parents’ request rejected

The Turkish-Swiss parents who refused to allow their daughters to take mixed swimming classes have lost their lawsuit in Strasbourg court, says La Tribune de Geneve. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is not going to re-examine the ruling it delivered on the 10th of January which indicates that Muslim girls in Switzerland are not to be exempt from mixed swimming lessons.

The court threw an appeal that was brought by the Muslim parents on the 30th of May. They requested that their case should be looked at by the Grand Chamber of the European Court.

The ECHR issued a decision similar to that of the Swiss authorities: the two girls will not be exempted from the mixed swimming course. The Basel Administrative Court «considered that there is a significant interest in ensuring that all children attend these courses».

Last January, the ECHR argued that «the children's interest in a full education, thus facilitating their successful social integration according to local customs and mores, prevailed over the parents' wish to have their children exempted from mixed swimming lessons».