21 February 2017

Bavaria agrees on draft law to ban burqa in public

The Bavarian state government on Tuesday announced a draft law which would prohibit Muslim women from wearing burqas or niqabs in certain public spaces.

“Covering up your face will be banned in areas of public service, in high schools, schools, kindergartens, in areas relating to general security and during voting,” the Bavarian government announced.

When Muslim women cover their faces, they are “breaking the local culture of communication”, Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said.

“A communicative exchange takes place not only through speech, but also through eye contact, facial expressions and gestures.

“This is the basis of our interaction with one another and the foundation of our society and our free democratic order,” Herrmann said. [The Local] Read more