Dutch MPs on
Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to ban the Islamic full-face burqa from some
public places such as schools and hospitals, the latest such move in a European
country.
"The law
is adopted," said the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Khadija
Arib, referring to legislation which will also ban burqas, and face coverings
just with eye-slits, from public transport.
The motion
"to ban all clothing which completely covers the face" from
government buildings was approved by 132 members in the 150-seat house,
including Prime Minister Mark Rutte's ruling Liberal-Labour coalition.
The
legislation must now go before the Senate for approval before becoming law. It
follows similar bans imposed in France and Belgium, and comes amid rising
tensions in Europe with Islamic communities.
The Dutch
cabinet had approved the plan in mid-2015, but decided not to go as far as
banning wearing burqas on the streets.
It backed the
legislation due to the "necessity to be able to interact face-to-face, for
instance in places where public services are performed and safety must be
guaranteed," the government said.
"The
government sees no need to impose the ban on all public spaces," it added.
Those flouting
the ban would face a fine of up to 410 euros (around $430).
Safety
equipment such as helmets or full-face protection while working, playing sport
or "during a festive or cultural event" is not however included in
the ban.
- Jihadists in
disguise? -
Supporting the
ban was the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV) of firebrand politician Geert
Wilders, who is leading opinion polls ahead of March elections.
His election
campaign appears to have been given a boost thanks to the publicity from his trial
on charges of hate speech in a Dutch court over comments he made about
Moroccans living in the country.
"How do
we even know there's a woman under this Islamic textile?" said PVV
lawmaker Machiel de Graaf.
"It might
as well be a well-trained jihadist who completed his training in Raqa of
course," he said in a parliamentary debate last week.
Public
newscaster NOS said only about 150 women in The Netherlands wear the burqa,
most of them only occasionally.
And MP Tunahan
Kuzu, who vehemently fought against the draft legislation, said freedom of
expression allowed people "to be who they are and dress how they
want".
"It is
reprehensible to exclude these women and isolate them because of a subject
anxiety among certain citizens," he said.
Several women
attended last week's parliamentary debate dressed in burqas. One of them,
Karima Rahmani, argued that arrangements to enable women wearing full-face
Islamic dress to identify themselves were already in place.
"When we
go to the town hall we have to identify ourselves, as well as at Amsterdam's
Schiphol airport where we have to remove it," she told NOS.
"The
obligation to identify oneself is already provided for in the law."
- 'Not a big
social problem' -
The Dutch
government's advisory State Council body had said it believed issues around the
Islamic veil could be solved "without invoking legislation".
"From
time-to-time there's discussion about it... but it's not really a big social
problem," it said in a letter published in mid-2015.
France
introduced a ban on women wearing the burqa in 2011, or risk a 150 euro fine,
resulting in some 1,500 arrests in the past five years.
The European
Court of Human Rights in 2014 backed the French ban, rejecting arguments that
outlawing full-face veils breaches religious freedom.
Belgium and
some parts of Switzerland have followed France's lead and similar bans are
being considered in other European countries.
This summer
some French towns also controversially banned burkinis, the full-body Islamic
swimsuit.
AFP
AFP
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