Austrian Parliament bans full facial veils in public
The New York Times
Austria has banned wearing a full facial veil in public places, the latest move by a European country to restrict expressions of Muslim identity viewed as contrary to Western secular values.
Under the legislation, approved by Parliament on Tuesday, women who wear clothing that covers their faces, such as burqas or niqabs, in places like universities, public transportation or courthouses will face fines of 150 euros, or about $167. The measure will take effect in October.
The ban is part of legislation aimed at improving the integration of immigrants, according to Muna Duzdar, a state secretary in the office of Chancellor Christian Kern. Other elements of the legislation include mandatory integration courses, German-language lessons and requirements that asylum seekers do unpaid work while awaiting the processing of their claims. Under the new law, migrants who do not meet the requirements could see their welfare benefits slashed.
Analysts said the new law appeared to be at least partially calculated to try and defuse the growing influence of the far-right anti-immigrant Freedom Party.
Sevgi Kircil, a member of Austria’s Muslim community, said the new restrictions were an infringement on individual privacy and a reckless “intervention in religious freedom and the freedom of expression.” Earlier this year, thousands of Muslim women took to the streets of Vienna to protest the proposed law.
The Austrian Bar Board, which represents the legal profession, said the ban breached the values of constitutional democracy, along with “the fundamental rights of the freedom of conscience and the freedom of private life.”
The current coalition government — which includes the conservative People’s Party and the center-left Social Democratic Party — is on the brink of collapse, and early elections are expected in October. That could create an opportunity for the far-right Freedom Party to enter government for the second time since it was formed by former Nazis in the 1950s.
Austria is hardly alone in imposing restrictions on religious garb.
In 2010, the French Parliament voted to ban the wearing of face-concealing veils in public places, the first country to do so. A similar ban in Belgium went into effect in 2011.
Germany’s Parliament this year approved a draft law banning women working in the judiciary, civil service or military from wearing face-covering veils.