Ljubljana - A Syrian man living in Slovenia has been discriminated against by a financial company, which did not enable him to use its services, the equality ombudsman has found. No person must be denied the use of services based on their citizenship, the ombudsman said.

The financial company argued that it had denied the man the use of its services because Syria is on the list of countries with high risk of money laundering or financing of terrorism.

Looking into the rules the company was referring to, the ombudsman found that they ban doing business with specific persons from particular areas, including Syria, but that the rules do not say businesses should withhold services from citizens of risky areas who live in other countries like in the case of the Syrian man.

Financial companies must only monitor the actions of more risky clients but must not deny the services to individuals merely based on their personal circumstances such as their citizenship, the Advocate of the Principle of Equality said.

By denying services to the Syrian, the financial company was trying to reduce the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism but did not use the appropriate measure, the ombudsman explained.