AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government said Friday, November 10, it was mulling to ban the face-veil (niqab) of Muslim women in public places in a move that could deepen the sense of alienation and marginalization of the country's Muslim minority.

"The government will search for the possibility to provide a ban," a spokeswoman for Dutch Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk told Reuters.

Last December, Dutch lawmakers voted for a proposal by far-right politician Geert Wilders to outlaw face-coverings, partly on security grounds.

However, Verdonk, known for her tough stances on immigrants, said that a total ban of the face-coverings worn for religious reasons could bring the new legislation into conflict with Dutch freedom laws.

"The cabinet finds the wearing of a burqa (niqab) undesirable ... but cannot at present enforce a total ban," she had said after a cabinet meeting.

Existing Dutch legislation already limits the wearing of face-covering in public transport and schools.

If enacted, the Netherland would be the first European country to impose a total ban of the Muslim wearing.

A debate has been raging in the West about the niqab after British cabinet minister and former foreign secretary Jack Straw called on Muslim women to remove their veils.

Straw's call has drawn backing from a host of cabinet ministers, with Prime Minister Tony Blair considering the niqab as a "mark of separation" between the Muslim minority and British society.

The Archbishop of Canterbury warned on Friday, October 27, that a British ban of the veil and other religious insignia would be "politically dangerous".

Alienation

The proposed government ban has immediately sparked warnings that the move could further alienate and victimize the Muslim minority.

"What the government is doing now is totally disproportionate to the number of women who actually wear the burqa," said Dutch Muslim activist Ayhan Tonca.

There are estimated 50 Muslim women wearing the niqab in the Netherlands, according to unofficial Muslim estimates.

"The legislation we already have to protect people for security reasons is adequate," Tonca added.

Hope, a Dutch-born Muslim who wears niqab, said she has the full right to stick to the veil.

"Nobody has the right to forbid it. If someone decides I cannot wear it then I will feel suppressed," she said.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

As for the niqab, the majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands, but it is up to her to decide.

Muslims make up one million of the Netherlands’s 16 million population. Turks represent 80 percent of the Muslim minority.

The Dutch Muslims have been under scrutiny since the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim man for an anti-Islam film.

The murder was vehemently condemned by Muslim leaders in the country, who said Muslims should respond astutely to anti-Islam campaigns.

Since then, the Netherland has adopted a flurry of Europe's toughest entry and integration laws to ensure new immigrants are equipped with "vital integration skills".

These include the newcomers would have to watch a film featuring a topless woman and gay men kissing to test their readiness to learn Dutch values and liberate in the country's liberal society.

They would have to pass exams on Dutch language and culture exams in their home countries.