Muslim denied trip to Japan
A Dunedin teenager missed out on a year-long home stay in Japan because he is Muslim.
Sharif Steel, 15, loves studying Japanese and wanted to take part in a year-long home stay trip to the country.
That wish was thwarted after the exchange organisation, World Youth Services, emailed him to say their Japanese counterparts had ‘‘a few questions about you being a Muslim’’.
The Kings High School student replied to the New Zealand-based organisation explaining his religion meant that ‘‘I just can’t eat pork and I sometimes fast’’.
A fortnight later he was told it was impossible to find him accommodation because ‘‘basically every Japanese family eats pork’’.
Steel responded that he was willing to ‘‘pick out the pork in my meals, or would that be a rude thing to do’’, but his plea was rejected this year. ‘‘I blamed myself.’’
Richard Ellis, of World Youth Services, said he was aware of the case. Steele’s application coincided with the capture and beheading of two Japanese nationals by Islamic State (Isis).
‘‘The challenge was nothing to do with the boy, the fact was they were unable to find a Japanese family to host a Muslim.
‘‘Unfortunately it coincided with the beheading of the Japanese people by Isis and just the horror that had, and by association anybody that appeared to be in the least Islamic, was not considered.’’
When asked why that message – rather than an email debate over dietary requirements – wasn’t conveyed to the teenager, he replied ‘‘we were upset as his family was’’.
Asked if the organisation had apologised to the family, he replied: ‘‘I hope we conveyed that we were as dismayed as they were.’’
Told of the organisation’s reason for not allowing him on the home stay, Steel said: ‘‘I feel more upset now.’’
His mother, Azizah, who came to New Zealand from Singapore, said the decision smacked of racism. ‘‘It made me feel sick. I told him ‘don’t you ever feel ashamed that you are Muslim’.’’