BERLIN: A lawmaker from the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) called on Thursday for Muslim doctors, nurses, pilots, bus and train drivers to be banned from working during Ramadan if they are fasting. Germany is home to some four million Muslims – including Turks who have lived here for decades as well as migrants and asylum seekers who arrived in the past few years, many fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. AfD politician Martin Sichert said employers who were not able to give fasting Muslims a night or early shift should be able to make them use some of their annual leave during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has faced strong criticism from some Germans for opening the borders to more than a million migrants over the last few years, wants an inclusive, multi-ethnic Germany. Her letter was met with widespread criticism, including from within her own Liberal Party.

Source: New Strait Times May 24, 2018 17:48 UTC