France wrestles with banning the burqa
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A FRENCH parliamentary commission's proposal to ban full Islamic veils such as the burqa and the niqab from public places has roused heated debate, and efforts to hammer out a compromise are gathering speed.
The head of the commission said yesterday that the next step should be a law imposing the ban, but many politicians and activists have voiced skepticism at the prospect of police forcing women to lift their veils.
"We will talk about the idea of a law, about the need to take time to prepare it and to avoid stigmatisation," commission head and communist politician Andre Gerin told French radio. The commission is expected to publish its findings on January 26 or 27.
Only a few hundred women in France are reported to be wearing full veils like the burqa or the niqab, but the possibility of a ban has dominated public debate for months and caused a rift within President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party.
Jean-Francois Cope, the UMP's parliamentary leader who has an eye on the 2017 presidential race, has been the most vocal defender of a broad ban. Critics say such a ban could be challenged on human rights and religious freedom grounds.
Gerin recommended a more selective ban applying only to public buildings and schools, where veiled mothers picking up their children could be hard to identify.
He called the full veil a "minority phenomenon" in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim community, but said it was a symptom of a bigger problem.
The head of the commission said yesterday that the next step should be a law imposing the ban, but many politicians and activists have voiced skepticism at the prospect of police forcing women to lift their veils.
"We will talk about the idea of a law, about the need to take time to prepare it and to avoid stigmatisation," commission head and communist politician Andre Gerin told French radio. The commission is expected to publish its findings on January 26 or 27.
Only a few hundred women in France are reported to be wearing full veils like the burqa or the niqab, but the possibility of a ban has dominated public debate for months and caused a rift within President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party.
Jean-Francois Cope, the UMP's parliamentary leader who has an eye on the 2017 presidential race, has been the most vocal defender of a broad ban. Critics say such a ban could be challenged on human rights and religious freedom grounds.
Gerin recommended a more selective ban applying only to public buildings and schools, where veiled mothers picking up their children could be hard to identify.
He called the full veil a "minority phenomenon" in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim community, but said it was a symptom of a bigger problem.
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