France backs plan to ban veil in public facilities (From Asian Image)

France backs plan to ban veil in public facilities

11:09am Tuesday 26th January 2010

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France has backed a partial ban on the wearing of Muslim veils in public.

A parliamentary inquiry recommended they be made illegal in all places of public services, including public transport.

It also said residence cards and citizenship should be refused to anyone with visible signs of a “radical religious practice.”

Its report contains a series of measures intended to dissuade women from wearing all-enveloping veils.

But there is no call to outlaw them in private areas and in the street. The 32-member, multi-party panel heeded warnings that a full ban risked being deemed unconstitutional and could even cause trouble in a country where Islam is the second-largest religion.

The language in the report is carefully chosen in an effort to avoid offending France’s estimated five million Muslims - the largest population in western Europe - and accusations of discrimination.

Muslim leaders have already complained that the debate over the full veil coupled with an ongoing discussion on French national identity has already left some Muslims feeling their religion is becoming a government target.

The topic of the all-encompassing veil is charged with passion and politics, and the panel failed to reach a consensus on whether any action was warranted, and what kind, despite universal agreement that veils covering the face are not wanted in France.

The report culminates a six-month inquiry into the wearing of veils that began after President Nicolas Sarkozy said in June that they are “not welcome” on French territory.

The veils are thought to be worn by only several thousand Muslim women who, most often, pin a “niqab” across their faces, hiding all but the eyes. Worn with a long, dark robe, such clothing is customarily associated with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

The veil is widely viewed in France as a gateway to extremism, an insult to gender equality and an offence to France’s secular foundation. A 2004 French law bans Muslim headscarves from primary and secondary school classrooms.

As hearings proceeded, “it appeared to members of the panel that the wearing of the full-body veil threw out a challenge to our Republic. It is unacceptable,” the report said.

Equality between men and women and the principle of secularism are frequently cited in the report as French values compromised by the face-covering veil, viewed as radical dress.

Among its 18 proposals, the panel recommends modifying the code governing asylum and foreigners residing in France to ensure refusal of a resident card to those who “manifest a radical practice of their religion.”

A more drastic recommendation would refuse citizenship for “failure to assimilate” to those who “manifest a radical practice of their religion.” The code currently mentions “propagation of extremist theories” as reason for refusing citizenship.

The measure likely to upset critics and - if passed - directly affect all Muslim women who cover their faces is the proposed ban on veils in all public facilities.

The ban would be legal and “apply to all public services and therefore to public transport.” Hospitals and schools would be included.

It would require that people show their faces when entering the facility and “keep the face uncovered throughout their presence,” the report says.

Failure to do so would result “in a refusal to deliver the service demanded.” That means, for instance, that a woman seeking state funds commonly accorded to mothers would be turned down.

It was not immediately clear whether the government, or parliament, would take up any or all of the report’s recommendations.

Any action would not come before March regional elections. A first, easy step would probably be a resolution - a policy statement which carries no legal weight - denouncing the veil.

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