KUWAIT CITY, Nov 23: The Cultural Bureau at the Kuwaiti Embassy in France has recommended that Kuwaiti female doctors, who wear ‘hijab’ (veil), should not be sent for training in French hospitals due to a French law that prohibits public sector employees from wearing religious symbols like the hijab in their work places, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily quoting a letter sent by the bureau to the Scholarship and Workforce Registry Sector at the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Kuwait.

It has been reported that Kuwait had previously signed an agreement with France to give a number of Kuwaiti doctors a chance to train in French hospitals. However, the bureau’s letter stated that “all female doctors, who want to train in these hospitals, must be aware of the difficulties they might face due to a law banning government sector workers in France from wearing religious symbols while on duty.  Kuwaiti physicians, who train in French hospitals, are considered public sector workers; hence, they need to abide by the law. It is then better if Kuwait does not send female Kuwaiti doctors wearing hijab.”

Sources clarified this law is not related to a recently-approved bill that bans face veils.