Press Releases

June 6, 2019		Ramadan 2019: Child Fasting is Child Abuse In the past years, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain has held fast-defying protests at embassies in solidarity with those who are persecuted for eating and drinking during Ramadan. This year, CEMB’s fast-defying action included a protest at the Department for Education on 17th May to highlight the Department’s inaction with regards to child fasting in schools. Child fasting should be banned as it is harmful to children. We discussed the issue with young people from Muslim backgrounds on their way to Friday prayers. Our position is that if a child is sent to school without breakfast and not allowed to... Filed as: Press Releases
June 6, 2019		The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain stands with Hidayah, Andrew Moffat, Anderton Park School and all LGBT of Muslim heritage CEMB supports the recent legal injunction prohibiting homophobic protests outside of Anderton Park School in Birmingham for the use of LGBT inclusive educational material. The presence of Muslim parents and others holding homophobic banners calling for the erasure of the LGBT community in educational material and the resignation of the head teacher are unacceptable. The climate of fear and intimidation around a primary school is nothing short of abhorrent and reminiscent of the abuse faced by African American children during attempts to desegregate schools in Little Rock in 1957 or children running a gauntlet of abuse in Belfast in the... Filed as: Press Releases
May 20, 2019		End ban on Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka’s Facebook Page Ex-Muslims are some of the most persecuted minorities in Sri Lanka. Social media and Facebook are the only avenues available to us to express ourselves in a safer environment. Ex-Muslims cannot speak out publicly in Sri Lanka for fear of our lives. Facebook facilitates our efforts to make links with each other and celebrate apostasy without shame or fear. We, therefore, condemn Facebook’s banning of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka (CEMSL) Facebook page, which was established in December 2016 since 10 May 2019 without explanation. The URL of the page was www.Facebook.com/CEMSL.ORG . The page with more than... Filed as: Press Releases
May 16, 2019		Open Letter to Home Secretary Sajid Javid: APPG Islamophobia Definition Threatens Civil Liberties Addressed to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid The APPG on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia has now been adopted by the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats Federal board, Plaid Cymru and the Mayor of London, as well as several local councils. All of this is occurring before the Home Affairs Select Committee has been able to assess the evidence for and against the adoption of the definition nationally. Meanwhile the Conservatives are having their own debate about rooting out Islamophobia from the party. According to the APPG definition, “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that... Filed as: Media Coverage, Press Releases
May 13, 2019		Ramadan, Woman’s Hour and No Platforming Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour contacted the Council of Ex Muslims of Britain (CEMB) regarding a feature they were doing about child fasting. They were going to be discussing Ramadan falling during exam times and the guidelines produced by Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) entitled Ramadan: Exams and Tests, 2019, Information for Schools and Colleges. Debate participants on the programme today were going to be CEMB Spokesperson along with Writer of the Ramadan guidelines from the ASCL Anna Cole, and a former president from the Muslim Teacher’s Association (MTA) Rukhsana Yaqoob. An hour before the programme, our spokesperson was... Filed as: Media Coverage, Press Releases
May 10, 2019		Celebrating Dissent – Conference on Free thought August 30 until September 1st, De Balie, Amsterdam Freedom of thought and expression is not a given, it requires continuous effort to safeguard it. Especially for those who dare to be different, to leave their religion or doctrine, to speak out and stand alone. In a time where dissenters continue to be threatened, silenced, excluded, intimidated and even killed for rejecting and criticising the prevailing opinion or religion, a celebration of free speech is an act of resistance. This weekend, we will highlight these themes and give room to those who are threatened worldwide for thinking and speaking... Filed as: Press Releases
May 1, 2019		Ramadan Advice For Educators 1st May 2019 Dear educational providers, Ramadan is fast approaching, a holy month within Islam requiring Muslims to fast from dawn to dusk, which in the summer months can be up to 13+ hours without food and water. The Minnesota semi-starvation study found that by reducing an individual’s daily calories to half their daily allowance had dramatic effects such as: A substantial increase in food preoccupations, such as odd eating behaviours, obsessions in food/cookbooks/menus, spending the day planning how and what they would eat, binge eating, reports of feeling “out of control with food” and feelings of guilt and shame... Filed as: Press Releases
April 26, 2019		Jaleh is at risk of having her daughter taken from her, simply for being who she is. Read her response here: We are a family, even though the Social Supervision considers my daughter as a task, as they have expressed several times before. My daughter is almost 8 years old, and she is not our biological child , although my husband and I got her when she was about 48 hours old. She is psychologically our child, and we are her psychological parents. We are mum and dad, we have always been. Legally, though, we are foster parents for our daughter. This summer she got a little brother who is biologically ours, and there is truly no difference to us as... Filed as: Press Releases
April 26, 2019		Join us for fast-defying protests during Ramadan and to defend LGBT Rights, Apostasy and Blasphemy Hello dear friend We hope you are well. We are just writing to give you an update of our upcoming activities, namely fast-defying during Ramadan and defending LGBT rights and apostasy in the run up to Gay Pride in London. 17 MAY – CHILD FASTING IS CHILD ABUSE PROTEST AT DEPT FOR EDUCATION This year, CEMB’s fast-defying action will include a protest at the Department for Education on 17th May at 12pm to highlight the Department’s inaction with regards to child fasting in schools during Ramadan. We are calling on the Department to ban child fasting in schools and... Filed as: Press Releases
April 25, 2019		Ramadan Fast-Defying Protests: Child Fasting is Child Abuse In the past years, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain has held fast-defying protests at embassies in solidarity with those who are persecuted for eating and drinking during Ramadan. This year, CEMB’s fast-defying action will include a protest at the Department for Education on 17th May at 12pm. The 17 May protest at the Department for Education aims to highlight the Department’s inaction with regards to child fasting in schools during Ramadan. Child fasting should be banned as it is harmful to children. If a child is sent to school without breakfast and not allowed to eat lunch or drink water... Filed as: Press Releases