WUNRN
The Islamic Veil Across Europe
Countries across Europe have wrestled
with the issue of the Muslim veil - in various forms such as the body-covering
burka and the niqab, which covers the face apart from the
eyes.
The debate takes in religious freedom,
female equality, secular traditions and even fears of terrorism.
The veil issue is part of a wider debate about multiculturalism in Europe, as many politicians argue that there needs to be a greater effort to assimilate ethnic and religious minorities.
France
France was the first European country to ban the full-face Islamic veil in public places.
France has about five million Muslims - the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe - but it is thought only about 2,000 women wear full veils.
As President, Nicolas Sarkozy, whose administration brought in the ban, said that veils oppress women and were "not welcome" in France.
Under the ban that took effect on 11 April 2011, no woman, French or foreign, is able to leave their home with their face hidden behind a veil without running the risk of a fine.
Headscarves are allowed at French universities - but not schools
The penalty for doing so is a 150-euro (£133, $217)
fine and instruction in citizenship. Anyone found forcing a woman to cover her
face risks a 30,000-euro fine.
The French Interior Ministry said, as of September 2012, 425 women had been fined and 66 had been warned for violating the headscarf ban.
The European Court of Human Rights upheld the ban on 2 July 2014 after a case was brought by a 24-year-old French woman who argued that the ban violated her freedom of religion and expression.
Most of the population - including most Muslims - agree with the government when it describes the face-covering veil as an affront to society's values. Critics - chiefly outside France - say it is a violation of individual liberties.
A ban on Muslim headscarves and other "conspicuous" religious symbols at state schools was introduced in 2004, and received overwhelming political and public support in a country where the separation of state and religion is enshrined in law.
Belgium
A law banning the full-face veil came
into effect in Belgium in July 2011.
The law bans any clothing that obscures
the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street.
Veiled women in Belgium have staged protests against
the ban
In December 2012, Belgium's
Constitutional Court rejected appeals for the ban to be annulled, ruling that
it did not violate human rights.
Before the law was passed, the burka was
already banned in several districts under old local laws originally designed to
stop people masking their faces completely at carnival time.
Spain
Though there are no plans for a national
ban in Spain, the city of Barcelona announced a ban on full Islamic face-veils
in some public spaces such as municipal offices, public markets and libraries.
At least two smaller towns in Catalonia,
the north-eastern region that includes Barcelona, have also imposed bans.
Barcelona was the first major city in Spain to ban the
full-face Islamic veil in public buildings
But a ban in the town of Lleida was
overturned by Spain's Supreme Court in February 2013. It ruled that it was an
infringement of religious liberties.
Barcelona's city council said the ban
there targeted any head-wear that impeded identification, including motorbike
helmets and balaclavas.
Britain
There is no ban on Islamic dress in the
UK, but schools are allowed to decide their own dress code after a 2007
directive which followed several high-profile court cases.
Many Islamic groups see a ban on full-face veils as
discrimination against Muslims
In January 2010, then Schools Secretary
Ed Balls said it was "not British" to tell people what to wear in the
street after the UK Independence Party called for all face-covering Muslim
veils to be banned.
In September 2013, Home Office Minister
Jeremy Browne called for a "national debate" about Islamic veils in
public places, such as schools.
In 2014 UKIP came first in the European
elections in Britain, winning 24 seats in Brussels. UKIP leader Nigel Farage
has previously said that full veils are a symbol of an "increasingly
divided Britain", that they "oppress" women, and are a potential
security threat.
The Netherlands
Plans to impose a ban in the Netherlands
under the country's previous centre-right coalition were shelved in 2012 when
the government collapsed and was replaced by its left-wing rivals.
The earlier proposed ban reflected the
influence of the anti-Islamist Geert Wilders, whose Freedom party was at that
time the third largest in parliament and the minority coalition government's
chief ally.
Attempts to introduce similar
legislation in 2006 failed. Lawyers said it would probably be unconstitutional
and critics said it would violate civil rights.
Around 5% of the Netherlands' 16 million
residents are Muslims, but only around 300 are thought to wear the niqab, which
leaves the eyes uncovered, or the burka, which covers them with a cloth grid.
The wearing of headscarves is far more common, however.
Turkey
For more than 85 years Turks have lived
in an officially secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who rejected
headscarves as backward-looking.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife,
Emine, wears a headscarf
Scarves are banned in civic spaces and
official buildings, but the issue is deeply divisive for the country's
predominantly Muslim population, as two-thirds of all Turkish women - including
the wives and daughters of the prime minister and president - cover their
heads.
In 2008, Turkey's constitution was
amended to ease a strict ban at universities, allowing headscarves that were
tied loosely under the chin. Headscarves covering the neck and all-enveloping
veils were still banned.
In October 2013, Turkey lifted rules
banning women from wearing headscarves in the country's state institutions -
with the exception of the judiciary, military and police.
The governing AK Party, with its roots
in Islam, said the ban meant many girls were being denied an education. But the
secular establishment said easing it would be a first step to allowing Islam
into public life.
Italy
Several towns in Italy have local bans
on face-covering veils. The north-western town of Novara is one of several
local authorities to have already brought in rules to deter public use of the
Islamic veil.
Governments have discussed extending the
law to impose penalties on Muslim face coverings, but these have not yet been
enforced nationally.
This sign in Varallo says that the Burqa, Niqab and
Burqini are not allowed by communal decision
In 2004 local politicians in northern
Italy resurrected old public order laws against the wearing of masks, to stop
women from wearing the burka.
Some mayors from the anti-immigrant
Northern League have also banned the use of Islamic swimsuits.
Denmark
In 2008, the government announced it
would bar judges from wearing headscarves and similar religious or political
symbols - including crucifixes, Jewish skull caps and turbans - in courtrooms.
Thousands of people across the Muslim world protested
against Denmark in 2006 over the publication of a controversial cartoon
depicting the Prophet Muhammad
That move came after pressure from the
Danish People's Party (DPP), known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, which has
since called for the ban to be extended to include school teachers and medical
personnel.
After a Danish paper published a
controversial cartoon in 2005 depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a bearded man
with a bomb in his turban, there were a series of protests against Denmark
across the Muslim world.
Germany
There is no national law restricting the
wearing of veils.
In September 2003 the federal
Constitutional Court ruled in favour of a teacher who wanted to wear an Islamic
scarf to school.
However, it said states could change their laws
locally if they wanted to.
At least half of Germany's 16 states
have gone on to ban teachers from wearing headscarves and in the state of Hesse
the ban applies to all civil servants.
Russia
Russia's Stavropol region has announced
a ban on hijabs - the first of its kind imposed by a region in the Russian
federation. The ruling was upheld by Russia's Supreme Court in July 2013.
In Chechnya, the authorities have defied
Russian policy on Islamic dress. In 2007 President Ramzan Kadyrov - the
pro-Moscow leader - issued an edict ordering women to wear headscarves in state
buildings. It is a direct violation of Russian law, but is strictly followed today.
President Kadyrov even voiced support
for men who fired paintballs at women deemed to be violating the strict dress
code.
More than 16 million Muslims live in Russia
Switzerland
In late 2009, Swiss Justice Minister
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said a face-veil ban should be considered if more
Muslim women begin wearing them, adding that the veils made her feel
"uncomfortable".
In September 2013, 65% of the electorate
in the Italian-speaking region of Ticino voted in favour of a ban on face veils
in public areas by any group.
It was the first time that any of
Switzerland's 26 cantons has imposed such a ban.
Swiss Muslim women protested against the cantonal vote
in Ticino on banning face-covering veils