Italy closer to Muslim veil ban
Source: Agencies |
August 4, 2011, Thursday
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AN Italian parliamentary commission has approved a draft law banning women from wearing veils that cover their faces in public.
The draft passed by the constitutional affairs commission on Tuesday would prohibit women from wearing a burqa, naqib or any other garb that covers the face. It would expand a decades-old law that for security reasons prohibits people from wearing face-covering items, such as masks, in public places.
Women who violate the ban would face fines of up to 300 euros (US$430), while someone who forces a woman to cover her face in public could be fined 30,000 euros and face up to 12 months in jail.
Italy, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a small Muslim minority, is the latest European country to act against veils. France and Belgium have banned such Islamic dress in public, as has a city in Spain. The Belgian law cited security concerns.
The Italian law was sponsored by Souad Sbai, a Moroccan-born member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Freedom People Party, who said she wanted to help Muslim women integrate better into Italian society.
She said: "Five years ago, no one wore the burqa (in Italy). Today, there is always more. We have to help women get out of this segregation 鈥 to get out of this submission. I want to speak for those who do not have a voice."
According to some estimates, 3,000 women in Italy cover their faces with veils, she said, adding that many of them are forced to do so.
However, Roberto Hamza Piccard, spokesman for the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, said banning the veil is unjust.
He said such a ban would isolate devout Muslim women, who would not be able to leave their homes.
The draft passed by the constitutional affairs commission on Tuesday would prohibit women from wearing a burqa, naqib or any other garb that covers the face. It would expand a decades-old law that for security reasons prohibits people from wearing face-covering items, such as masks, in public places.
Women who violate the ban would face fines of up to 300 euros (US$430), while someone who forces a woman to cover her face in public could be fined 30,000 euros and face up to 12 months in jail.
Italy, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a small Muslim minority, is the latest European country to act against veils. France and Belgium have banned such Islamic dress in public, as has a city in Spain. The Belgian law cited security concerns.
The Italian law was sponsored by Souad Sbai, a Moroccan-born member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Freedom People Party, who said she wanted to help Muslim women integrate better into Italian society.
She said: "Five years ago, no one wore the burqa (in Italy). Today, there is always more. We have to help women get out of this segregation 鈥 to get out of this submission. I want to speak for those who do not have a voice."
According to some estimates, 3,000 women in Italy cover their faces with veils, she said, adding that many of them are forced to do so.
However, Roberto Hamza Piccard, spokesman for the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, said banning the veil is unjust.
He said such a ban would isolate devout Muslim women, who would not be able to leave their homes.
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