Famile Fatma Arslan

Famile Arslan is the founder and president of Arslan Lawyers in The Hague, Netherlands. Her areas of expertise are family law, immigration law, housing, and labor and social insurance cases. She is "the first lawyer in the Netherlands who is wearing a hijab" (Islamic headscarf). Previously, she worked for five years in the Immigration Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Justice, where she handled asylum cases. In addition to her work as a lawyer, she serves on the Boards of the Islam and Citizenship Foundation and of CEDAR, a network of young Muslim professionals in Europe founded at the Salzburg Global Seminar in 2008. Ms. Arslan chairs her country's National Commission for Complaints at Islamic Schools. She is involved in a project that tackles domestic violence within the Muslim community, and in establishing a platform at the European level on dialogue between Muslims and Jews. She is currently forming her own foundation, which will provide courses on communication, empowerment, assertiveness and media training. Ms. Arslan has also worked as a researcher for a healthcare organization, where she designed coursework for intercultural communication, and has helped set up an emergency call center for migrant women. She holds an M.A. in international law.