European countries ponder banning the burqa

All over Europe, a debate is raging on prohibiting facial veils. Countries’ responses differ, but the arguments are the same everywhere.

“The burqa symbolises the submission of women,” is the claim of one Austrian minister, a social democrat. No, outlawing burqas could lead women to shun the streets, warns Sweden’s prime minister, a liberal conservative. This week, a Belgian parliamentary committee has called for an all-out ban of burqas. Meanwhile, a French court has called such a restriction legally untenable.

The burqa, a garment completely covering the female body and face, is worn in some Islamic traditions. The question whether such clothing should be forbidden in public places has been the subject of debate in many European countries lately. In the continent’s major countries, a majority supports a ban, a survey by the Financial Times (FT) showed last month.

Only a few thousand burqas

The number of women who actually wear burqas is very small everywhere in Europe. In Denmark, an estimated 150 to 200 do so. In Belgium, fewer than 300 female Muslims cover their faces. In France, 2,000 women go about in burqas, a number dwarfed by the total French Muslim population of five to six million souls.

Still, this has done little to stifle debate, most of which goes on at the domestic level. The arguments used hardly differ from within countries. The fundamental problem is the same everywhere: how to deal with a manner of dress that many people see as a way of distancing oneself from fellow citizens and society in general, regardless of the religious connotation it may carry.

The right-wing governments of France and Denmark want to ban the burqa wherever possible. President Nicolas Sarkozy himself has said “the burqa is not welcome on the French Republic’s territory”. But a parliamentary committee of inquiry and the Council of State, the nation’s highest court in these matters, came to a different conclusion. They said an all-out burqa ban would be at odds with the French constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The French Council of State said a burqa ban in jewellery stores, courthouses, hospitals, school courtyards and the civil registries would be tenable if it was argued to be in the interest of security.

The French communist André Gerin, chairman of a parliamentary committee that argued for a ban on burqas in January, sees the choice as a matter of principle. “Burqa, niqaab and other veils covering the entire face are only the tip of the iceberg called ‘fundamentalism’,” he said.

'No place in Danish society'

In January, Danish prime minister Lars Rasmussen echoed Sarkozy. “There is no place in Danish society for the burqa or the niqaab. They symbolise an image of women and humanity that we oppose with all our heart,” he said. Rasmussen leads a right-wing minority government supported by the populist Danish People’s Party. He has also acknowledged, however, that a complete burqa ban would be legally untenable, but encouraged schools, government agencies and private enterprise to limit the use of the burqa “as much as possible”.

In Austria, the minister for women Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek said in an interview: “I consider the burqa a symbol of the submission of women. It is a serious impediment to women seeking jobs in the labour market. If more women in Austria start donning burqas, I will look into a possible ban and start fining women who wear them in public buildings.”

The same FT poll shows that support for a burqa ban is less widespread in Germany than it is in France, Spain, the United Kingdom or Italy. Germany did see some debate over banning burqas in school, however.

In Italy, the Lega Nord, an ally of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, which made huge gains in regional elections last weekend, has proposed a bill that would outlaw the burqa.

Their proposal specifically targets Muslims. Whoever “makes it impossible for him or herself to be identified for religious reasons,” can be fined up to 2,000 euros or sent to jail for two years under the proposed law. Italy’s minister for equal opportunities, Mara Carfagna, has said she is in favour of such a ban. “Let’s not forget that the burqa is not a religious symbol but an act of submission of woman to man [...] banning the burqa is a way to save young female immigrants from the ghettos they are trying to force them into.”

No legal grounds for ban

But on what grounds? The French Council of State has found that neither the secular character of the state, nor protection of human dignity, nor the equality of the sexes offer sufficient legal grounds for a ban. According to the Council, the only possible legislative foundation would be security and the prevention of fraud.

Some supporters of this week’s Belgian bill, the Walloon liberals, have taken matters one step further. In the preamble to their proposal they write that “the proposed ban not only takes into consideration matters of the public order, but also – at a more fundamental level – social considerations that are essential for living together in an emancipated society that ensures the rights of all.”

An open society means being able to look each other in the face, the preamble continues, because people need to be able to “recognise each other, to know one another”.

A number of municipalities in Belgium, including Antwerp and Gent, have already issued local burqa bans. Now that the parliamentary committee has unanimously approved such a ban at the national level, Belgium could become the first country in Europe to outlaw burqas.

For now, such a move remains unthinkable in Sweden, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. These countries have a long tradition of allowing religious expression in the public realm. The conservative Swedish prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, vehemently opposes a burqa ban such as the one argued for by his French and Danish colleagues. The state should not try to force women into emancipation, he believes.

The British Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown, has expressed similar feelings about the issue. “The UK government does not share France’s views on secularisation. In the UK we are comfortable with expressions of belief, be it the wearing of the turban, hijab, crucifix or kippa. This diversity is an important part of our national identity and one of our strengths. By contrast, France’s cultural and historical backgrounds have caused them to take a different view of secularisation and the wearing of religious symbols,” is how the British government responded to the French proposal.

Still, in the UK, too, some people have called for a ban. Malcom Pearson, leader of the extreme-right UKIP party, has said he feels the burqa is incompatible with British values.