Belgium Bans Muslim Burqa

by Katy Murcutt - Paralegal

30 April 2010, filed under Consumer

Belgium is the first European country to enforce a nationwide ban on Muslim clothing.  Brussel’s federal parliament voted on 31st March 2010 to ban the covering of faces in all public places. Today this has been extended by their home affairs department to include the full body burqa and the face-masking niqab often worn by Muslim women.

More than half a million Muslims currently reside in Belgium, with the majority living in Brussels and Antwerp. In Belgium, very few women wear the burqa or niqab and so there was little public debate on the proposed ban.  There shall be two main penalties in place for those caught breaching the ban in public places, which include a fine and/or a seven day prison sentence.

The burqa and niqab are not a compulsory requirement of the Muslim religion.

Daniel Bacquelaine MP who initiated the Bill to ban the veils in public places stated that a person cannot have the right to look at another when they cannot be seen. The ban is a pre-emptive measure being used as prevention rather than cure amongst the threat of terrorism and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Belgium’s move has come at a controversial time as France and the Netherlands have recently been openly debating whether to implement a similar restriction. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has hinted that France will put in place a similar ban on 19th May 2010. Throughout France, headscarves are already banned in all schools.

In the Canadian region of Quebec, when facial covering of public service personnel was prohibited Canadian ministers stated that public support for the move had been overwhelming.

The Belgium Bill shall now be processed through the senate for 15 days to allow a full review of the proposed legislation and for all objections to be heard before the Bill is passed as law.