BBC:
h/t TL
Belgian ban on full veils comes into force
MPs voted to ban veils on the grounds of securityRelated Stories
A law has come into force in Belgium banning women from wearing the full Islamic veil in public.
The country is the second European Union nation after France to enforce such a ban. Offenders face a fine of 137.5 euros (£121; $197) and up to seven days in jail.
Two women who wear full veils launched an immediate court challenge, saying the law is discriminatory.
France, home to Europe’s biggest Muslim population, enforced its ban in April.
Belgium’s law bans any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street.
It was passed almost unanimously by the lower house of parliament in April 2010.
MPs voted with only two abstentions to back the legislation on the grounds of security, to allow police to identify people.
Other MPs said that full face veils such as the burka or the niqab were a symbol of the oppression of women.
Very few Muslim women actually wear full veils in France and BelgiumBut critics of the law say it could end up excluding women, leaving those who do wear the full veil trapped in their homes.
And they say the measures are over the top – estimates suggest only a few dozen women wear this kind of veil in Belgium, out of a Muslim population of about half a million.
“We consider the law a disproportionate intrusion into fundamental rights such as the freedom of religion and expression,” Ines Wouters, the lawyer representing the two women challenging the ban, told the newspaper La Libre.
She has taken their case to Belgium’s constitutional court, where she will request a suspension of the law, AFP news agency reported.
Related Stories
- Belgian lawmakers pass burka ban 30 APRIL 2010, EUROPE
- Veil ban: Your views 11 APRIL 2011, EUROPE
- The Islamic veil across Europe 11 APRIL 2011, EUROPE
- Anger at veil ban across France 11 APRIL 2011, FRONT PAGE
There is no discrimination here. Everyone in the Belgium is treated equally. Since the majority of the population does not wear these face mask, it only makes sense that the few who do join the majority to be treated equally. Dismiss.
This law is a smokescreen. When I recently was on Brussels’ Grand’ Place, the very center of town, I saw 2 burqa wearing fascist exponents leisurely strolling along. When I also crossed 2 policemen, a little bit further down the square, I addressed them and asked them if this was legal. Their answer: “If they’re tourists, it is”. Only a fool will not have understood that the allegedly 270 burqa wearing fascist exponents that reside in Belgium, will officially be recognized as tourists as from 23/07, the day this law took effect. To those who are foolish enough to think that the Belgian authorities will actually have the guts and the balls and the common sense to enforce this law: maybe reconsider. If you’re not irredeemably brainwashed of course.