Quebec, March 26: While on Wednesday Quebec became the first province to introduce legislation aimed at wearers of the niqab and burka, saying they would be ineligible to attend university, visit a doctor or receive any government service unless they remove their veils,” there are many places that have similar rules and laws in place.
Lets have a look at niqab-related laws throughout the world:
CANADA
In 2007, Elections Canada ruled that veiled women can cast ballots. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he “profoundly disagrees” with the decision to allow Muslim women to vote with their faces covered by burqas or niqabs. A month later, the Conservative government introduced a bill to overturn the Elections Canada decision. But, by June 2009, the government announced it was no longer pursuing the legislation, citing “other priorities” and a lack of opposition support. Later that same year, the Muslim Canadian Congress called on the federal government to introduce legislation that would ban face-covering veils such as the burqa and niqab altogether. The congress argued that the veils pose a security risk, and represent Islamic extremism.
ONTARIO
Women wearing a full veil can make special arrangements to receive government services without exposing their faces to male bureaucrats. Last year, an Ontario Muslim woman fought for the right to wear her veil while testifying, sparking a national debate about face-coverings in the courtroom. When a provincial judge ruled against her, the Ontario Human Rights Commission leapt to her side. Later, the Superior Court ruled that the woman had the right to wear the veil, but said she would have to face a hearing to confirm the sincerity of her religious beliefs.
FRANCE
Earlier this week, President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to introduce legislation banning the full Muslim veil, which he called “contrary to the dignity of women.” His statement comes less than two months after a Parliamentary Commission recommended sweeping legislation on religious dress. “The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable,” said the parliamentary report, which relied on the opinions of 200 experts. The report specifically said that women should not be allowed to wear a face-covering veil when accessing public services. In 2004, France passed a law banning students and staff from wearing veils and any other “conspicuous” religious symbols in state schools.
UNITED KINGDOM
Earlier this year, the UK Independence Party called for a ban on burqas. Not long after, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone urged the House of Commons to seriously consider banning the burqa. “Wearing a burqa is like going round with a paper bag over your head,” Mr. Hollobone reportedly said. In the absence of an outright ban, a smattering of cases illustrate a level of intolerance in schools for face-covering veils. In 2006, a teaching assistant was suspended and later fired from her job for wearing the niqab while teaching English class, which the school said hindered the children’s learning. The case prompted then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to remark that the veil was a “mark of separation. In 2009, a UK college banned a Muslim student from enrolling because she refused to take off her burqa. The woman was reportedly turned away after she refused a request to remove her veil for identity purposes. Over the years, several British primary and secondary schools have passed uniform codes for students. When it comes to courtrooms, it is not illegal to wear a face-covering veil, but the final decision lays with the presiding judge.
BELGIUM
Several towns have passed municipal bylaws that ban the niqab in public places. The town of Maaseik was the first to implement a ban, and women there can be fined 150 euros for wearing the niqab. The burqa, meantime, is banned in parts of Belgium’s Flemish-speaking region. Onlookers speculate that the burqa may soon be banned in Brussels and the French-speaking region of Wallonia, which is home to a third of country’s population.
ITALY
In January, the Italian government said it is debating legislation that would ban face-covering veils, which Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna called a “sacrosanct battle to defend the dignity and rights of immigrant women.” Ms. Carfagna said a law is being studied that would ban the burqa and niqab, which she said are not religious symbols. The country’s Charter of Values, Citizenship and Immigration states that face coverings are unacceptable, but does not deem veils illegal.
GERMANY
Some German states have banned teachers from wearing any religious symbols in schools, including face-covering veils. The federal Constitutional Court ruled that those bans are constitutional and do not infringe on freedom of religion. A recent Harris poll revealed that more than half of all Germans support an outright ban on the burqa.
EGYPT
The face-covering niqab is neither enforced nor embraced. In fact, the government has made numerous attempts to ban the veils under certain circumstances. In 2001, a woman wearing the niqab was prevented from using the library at the University of Cairo. She took her case to the country’s Supreme Court, which ruled that a total ban on the niqab was unconstitutional. The court did, however, recommend that women wearing the veil be forced to reveal their faces to female security guards for the sake of identification. Last fall, the University of Cairo was again at the centre of the niqab debate in Egypt. Then, a top Islamic cleric in Egypt banned students from wearing face-covering veils in classrooms and dorms at the university, and extended the ban to al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s leading university. That announcement was met with protests and threats of lawsuits, prompting a revocation of a ban at the schools. In 2008, a ban on nurses wearing full veil was announced, but has not been enforced in law.
MALAYSIA
Although head-scarves are permitted in government offices, public servants are forbidden from wearing the face-covering niqab.
TUNISIA
Tunisia banned Islamic head-scarves in public places in 1981. In recent years, enforcement of the ban has been ramped up in the Muslim country.
TURKEY
In Turkey, where the majority is Muslim, all forms of head-scarves have been banned in universities for decades, when the government was staunchly secular. In 2008, under leadership with ties to Islamist parties, the government attempted to lift the ban. However, those attempts were quashed by the country’s Constitutional Court.
UNITED STATES
There is no outright ban on face-covering veils in the United States, but there have been hot-flashes over both the burqa and the niqab. In 2003, a woman sued the state of Florida for the right to wear a niqab in her driver’s license photo. A Florida appellate court, however, ruled that the woman had no grounds for her case, and required her to show her face to a camera in a private room with a female employee. In 2009, the veil again made headlines, after a Michigan judge expelled a woman from the courtroom for wearing a burqa, citing identification and person recognition.
DENMARK
Earlier this year, the government announced it would limit face-covering burqa and niqab veils in public, but stopped short of introducing an outright ban. Stating the veils had “no place in Danish society,” the centre-right government said it would not enact a general ban but would allow schools, public authorities, and companies to determine their own restrictions. It said it would soon present a bill that would prohibit anyone from forcing a woman to wear a burqa or niqab. The government said it was also considering a bill that would require witnesses in courtrooms to lift their veil to identify themselves.
NETHERLANDS
In Netherlands, where only dozens of Muslim women wear face-covering veils, there is no outright ban on the burka or the niqab. However, face-covering veils are banned in primary and secondary schools and, as of 2008, burqas and niqabs are barred from universities and colleges. The ban also extends to public transportation. The government has said it does not plan on introducing a general ban on burkas, but has said it wants to forbid civil servants from wearing the garment.
-Agencies