Belgium Enacts National Burqa Ban

In a nearly unanimous decision, the lower house of the Belgian parliament passed a measure banning the burqa in all public areas, following similar actions taken in France, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The law’s author, Daniel Bacquelaine, a Liberal, said a burqa is incompatible with basic security as everyone in public must be recognizable and clashes with the principles of an emancipated society that respects the rights of all.

The law states that no one may appear in public “with the face fully or partly covered so as to render them no longer recognizable.” Although Belgian authorities have fined women in the past for wearing burqas in public, the new law will have effects in the entire nation and make currently spotty regulation of burqas much more strict. However, the law needs approval from both houses of parliament and the law may not take effect for at least several more months, since the Belgian government led by Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigned on April 22 after it was unable to reach a stable compromise over the use of Dutch and French in different parts of Belgium.

3% of the population of Belgium is Muslim, making Belgium one of the top five European nations with the highest percentage of Muslims in its population. Laws similar to Belgium’s new measure include a 2004 French law that banned wearing of the Jewish yarmulke, the Christian Cross, and Muslim Niqab in its schools, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has criticized the burqa and called for a national ban on the garment. Denmark earlier this year called the burqa contradictory to Danish values but has not implemented a total burqa ban.