Islamic Affairs Central Network (IACN)

A few months ago, IACN initiated an undercover operation targeting various employers across Nottingham. Alhamdulillah the operation has been highly successful and we are pleased to be able to disclose some of the information initially kept confidential.

Insha’Allah the following report will highlight this operation by briefly discussing its aims & objectives, adopted methodology, outlining 2 incident outcomes and closing with a conclusion.

The key aim of this operation was to investigate Islamophobia within different work environments and take effective measures for its eradication.

The employers were selected at random during this operation, primarily through adverts in the Nottingham Evening Post. Once an employer had been selected, an agent would be assigned to that particular employer. The agent would then follow the provided instructions and apply either in writing or call the employer depending on the advert.

If the agent failed to get the job then the employer was asked to explain their decision.

All agents were instructed to monitor in detail matters such as how the employer responds to them, the treatment they receive, the work environment, equal opportunity policies, etc

If there was satisfaction with the employer after having worked for some time then the agent would arrange a meeting with the supervisor/manager and disclose IACN’s Islamophobia undercover investigation. The agent would then highlight how the rights of Muslims are often violated mainly due to ignorance and misinformation about Islam. The agent would indicate that the treatment they received at that company was fair and would advise the employer to continue in this manner and contact IACN if any issues arise. The agent would then resign.

On the other hand, if the agent felt that they had been discriminated against then IACN would arrange a meeting with the recruitment manager/supervisor and advise him/her that we believe that X person has been discriminated against. We would ask them to provide us with their recruitment procedures and equal opportunity policy. If our investigation concluded that the employer had indeed discriminated against the agent then we would suggest a course of action to the employer. We would also inform them that their mistreatment would be brought into the public domain unless they follow our instructions and take the appropriate action. The course of action varied depending on the circumstances.

We will briefly highlight two Islamophobic incidents we encountered during this operation. The identities of the employers will not be disclosed as they complied with our recommended course of action.

Two agents from IACN phoned the recruitment agency at two different times. The first call was placed regarding a warehouse job that was seen in the Nottingham Evening Post that morning. The conversation was along the following lines:

Agent: “Hi, I’ve just seen your job advert for the warehouse work in the Evening Post and I’m interested in taking up this position.”

Lady @ the agency: “Ah right. Let me check something. Mohammed I’m afraid the vacancy has been filled.”

Lady @ the agency: “Yeah these jobs go very quickly I’m afraid. Sorry. However I could take your telephone number and call you if we have any appropriate vacancies in the future.”

About half an hour later, a second call is made to the agency. The same lady takes the call and the conversation was roughly as follows:

Agent: “O hi. My name is John. I’m calling about…umm…your warehouse job.”

Lady @ the agency: “That’s excellent John. Do you have any past experience?”

Agent: “Yeah I’ve worked at a warehouse before plus I’ve done newspaper rounds.”

Lady @ the agency: “That’s good. Would you be able to come in at 3 O Clock today for a quick chat?”

Lady @ the agency: “Fabulous. Our address is XXXX and we are near XXXX….When you come in ask for XXXX and we’ll go from there. Ok?”

Five minutes later, IACN phoned the agency and asked to speak to XXXX. We informed her that a guy called “Mohammed” had phoned earlier this morning and that she had advised him that the vacancy was no longer available after hearing his name. However when “John” called, she invited him for an interview. The lady started mumbling and said that she thought that “Mohammed” could not speak English. “How could you possibly think so when the whole conversation was in English?” we argued. We asked her to put us through to her Manager. We informed the manager of the whole story and asked for an appointment to discuss this matter in further detail. In the meeting we suggested that XXXX be suspended and must undergo equal opportunities training. The agency agreed.

An agent from IACN started working at a packaging factory. Everything seemed to be going well and even a room was provided for prayer after a request. The general environment at the factory was satisfactory. However the agent did notice that certain individuals working on the same conveyor belt would always start talking about “Bin Laden” and “Taliban”. The agent pointed this out to the supervisor who simply said to “ignore them.”

We contacted the supervisor and pointed out this incident. It seemed to us that she was not very well versed with equal opportunity laws nor had the factory managers really instructed the staff on these policies. We suggested that they re-implement their policies properly and define a clear disciplinary procedure for anyone who fails to abide by them. The factory agreed and apologised. The agent then resigned.

Islamophobia is a disease rampant in our society and deserves immediate attention at every level. It is a fact that not much is being done to curb this cancer.

IACN will insha’Allah continue it’s efforts to overcome Islamophobia and ensure that the rights of our Muslim brothers and sisters are protected. We will insha’Allah coordinate with other organisations, particularly like-minded Muslim groups with a similar commitment to ours. We must however point out that for us to succeed your cooperation is vital. Do not suffer in silence. If you have suffered or are currently suffering because of your Muslim identity whether at school, college, university or work; then contact us now.