Dutch Parliament Debates Burqa Ban

Brussels, 24 Safar 1438/24 November 2016 (MINA) – The Dutch parliament Wednesday discussed a draft legislation to bring in a limited ban on the burqa (the face-covering veil) and other clothing which covers the face, KUNA reported.

The ban would apply to public transport, educational institutions, healthcare facilities and government buildings.

A majority of MPs support the legislation, which was drawn up by home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk, Dutch media reported.

The draft stipulates that clothing which covers the face may not be worn in certain places because of safety concerns. People who defy the ban, which also applies to balaclavas and motorbike helmets, can be fined up to 450 euro.

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The Council of State, which is the Dutch government’s most senior advisory body, has recommended against introducing a ban, arguing that there are already sufficient provisions in law to require people to show their faces.

Amsterdam university professor Annelies Moors told a Dutch radio that there are no burqa wearers in the Netherlands and only very few women who wear a veil.

“There are about 150 women on a daily basis and between 400 and 500 who occasionally do so,” she said.

The effect of a ban will make it impossible for these women to go about their daily lives and enforcing the ban will be a waste of money, she added.

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The ban would make the Netherlands, where 1 million out of 17 million people are Muslim, the second European Union country to ban the burqa after France, and would apply to face-covering veils if they were worn in public.    (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)