Belgium set to become first EU country to ban burqas

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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Brussels - Belgium on Wednesday moved a step closer to becoming the first European Union country to criminalize Muslim women who hide their faces in public, as the interior affairs committee of its parliament passed a resolution against burqas and niqabs.

Burqas are full-length garments which obscure a woman's face completely, usually with a semi-transparent section that allows the wearer to see out. Niqabs are face veils, usually black, that expose only a woman's eyes, covering everything else.

Belgian media reported that according to the draft law approved by the committee, anyone caught "in public places with their face completely or partly covered or masked, so that they are no longer identifiable," should be punished with a 15 to 25 euros fine (20 to 34 dollars) and/or serve from one to seven days in prison.

The draft law would also allow local authorities to slap offenders with administrative fines of up to 250 euros, in case they are let off by the criminal justice system.

Exceptions are to be made for policemen, firemen and motorcyclists wearing helmets, as well as for people taking part in public events authorized by the police.

The proposal - presented by socialist, liberal and conservative parties - was approved unanimously. Only the Greens expressed reserves, warning that the new law could fall foul of the Belgian Constitution or of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Similar concerns have been expressed by a top administrative court in France, where a similar ban is being debated.

Critics say that burqas and niqabs should be banned because they are symbols of female submission. Opponents of a ban stress that they are a religious symbol, and should be respected as such.

According to a poll published in early March by the daily newspaper Financial Times, outlawing Muslim face veils is a popular measure in Western Europe.

Around 70 per cent of the population in France, 65 per cent in Spain, 63 per cent in Italy, 53 per cent in Britain and 50 per cent in Germany are said to support the move, compared to 33 per cent in the United States.

Muslim face veils were banned from French state schools in 2004, when a law against wearing religious symbols was passed. But Belgium would be the first member of the EU to introduce a total ban.

The European Commission, whose Brussels-based staff would also be subject to the proposed Belgian law, refused to take a position.

"I have no immediate comment to make on this," said Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen, spokeswoman for commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

The burqa and niqab ban is expected to enter into force before the summer, as the full assembly of the Belgian parliament is set to give its final assent to the new law in mid-April.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316615,belgium-set-to-become-first-eu-country-to-ban-burqas.html.