This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Denmark has joined several other European countries in banning garments that cover the face, including Islamic veils such as the niqab and burqa, in a move condemned by human rights campaigners as “neither necessary nor proportionate”.

In a 75-30 vote with 74 absentees on Thursday, Danish lawmakers approved the law presented by the centre-right governing coalition. The government said it is not aimed at any religions and does not ban headscarves, turbans or the traditional Jewish skull cap.

But the law is popularly known as the “burqa ban” and is mostly seen as being directed at the dress worn by some Muslim women. Few Muslim women in Denmark wear full-face veils.

Burqa bans, headscarves and veils: a timeline of legislation in the west Read more

The justice minister, Søren Pape Poulsen, said it would be up to police officers to use their common sense when they see people violating the law, which comes into force on 1 August.

The legislation allows people to cover their face when there is a “recognisable purpose” such as cold weather or complying with other legal requirements, for example using motorcycle helmets under Danish traffic rules.

Those violating the law risk a fine of 1,000 kroner (£118). Repeat offenders could be fined up to 10,000 kroner.

Austria, France and Belgium have similar laws.

Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s Europe director, said of the Danish decision: “All women should be free to dress as they please and to wear clothing that expresses their identity or beliefs. This ban will have a particularly negative impact on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa.

“While some specific restrictions on the wearing of full-face veils for the purposes of public safety may be legitimate, this blanket ban is neither necessary nor proportionate and violates the rights to freedom of expression and religion.

“If the intention of this law was to protect women’s rights, it fails abjectly. Instead, the law criminalises women for their choice of clothing and in so doing flies in the face of those freedoms Denmark purports to uphold.”

• This article was amended on 1 June 2018 to clarify that, according to Danish authorities, the penalties for repeat offending do not include a prison term.



Associated Press contributed to this report</s>Denmark on Thursday followed in the footsteps of several European countries and introduced a ban on clothes that cover the face, including Islamic veils such as the burqa and niqab.

The ban, which will come into effect from August 1, was passed in the Danish Parliament in a 75-30 vote with 74 absentees, reported The Guardian. The law was presented by Denmark’s centre-right governing coalition. The government said the bill is not aimed at any religion and does not ban headscarves, turbans or the Jewish skull cap.

Those violating the law will have to pay a fine of 1,000 kroner (Rs 10,595). During the weeks-long parliamentary procedure, the government removed a provision allowing prison sentences as potential punishment for breaking the law, reported The Local Denmark.

“[The] Parliament has clearly stated that the burqa and niqab do not belong in Denmark,” said Danish People’s Party spokesperson Martin Henriksen. “They are incompatible with Danish culture and the foundations on which Denmark is built.”

Justice Minister Soren Pape Poulsen in April said the Danish police will not forcibly remove veils from women. “If they live nearby, they will be asked to go home,” Poulsen had said.

The law, popularly known as the “burqa ban”, is seen as being directed at the dress worn by some Muslim women. Few Muslim women in Denmark wear full-face veils, reported The Guardian.

The burqa has become a political issue in several major European countries. France became the first country in Europe to ban the burqa in 2011, followed by Belgium. The Netherlands approved a partial burqa ban in public spaces such as hospitals and schools in 2016, whereas Austria banned the use of burqa from October last year. In 2017, the German Parliament too voted in favour of a partial burqa ban.</s>The traditional Islamic burqa and niqab veils have been banned in Denmark after a majority vote in the country’s parliament.

In a 75-30 vote with 74 absentees on Thursday, Danish lawmakers approved the law. The Danish government says it is not aimed at any religions and does not ban headscarves, turbans or the traditional Jewish skull cap, AP reports.

Denmark now follows in the footsteps of several other European countries which have also banned the full-face veil, fully or partially, including France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Belgium, Germany, and parts of Switzerland.

During the weeks-long parliamentary procedure of the bill, the government removed a provision allowing prison sentences as potential punishment for breaking the new law. Financial penalties will instead be inforced against those who infringe on the new legislation.

Those found violating it will receive a 1,000 Krone (£119/$166) fine which could increase to as much as £900/$1,257 for repeat offenders. Anyone forcing a person to wear garments covering the face by using force or threats can be fined or face up to two years in prison.

Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen has previously stated that Danish police will not forcibly remove veils from women.

“I do not want police officers pulling items of clothing off people – burqas or otherwise. That is not going to happen,” Poulsen told Politiken last month.

“If they live nearby, they will be asked to go home,” Poulsen said at the time.

A further option would be for women to be accompanied to a police station, where they would be collected by a family member, he added.

Unlike the Austrian burqa ban, which prohibits all facial coverings including Halloween costumes, the Danish ban will have a limited number of exceptions including those using scarves to protect their faces from cold and people dressed up in costume.

Following the Danish vote, Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, said: “All women should be free to dress as they please and to wear clothing that expresses their identity or beliefs. This ban will have a particularly negative impact on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa.</s>Danish Parliament voted Thursday to ban garments covering the face in public places: effectively outlawing the burqa and niqab, coverings worn by some Muslim women.

The bill was presented by Denmark's center-right governing coalition. It received 75 votes from members of parliament in favor of the ban and 30 votes in opposition. Another 74 members of parliament were absent for the vote.

Once the law goes into effect on August 1, it carries a fine of 1,000 kroner ($156) for first-time offenders and up to 10,000 kroner ($1,568) by the fourth violation.

An earlier version of the bill also included a provision allowing prison sentences, The Local Denmark reported. That amendment was later removed from the bill.

Widely known as the "Burqa Ban," the measure is perceived by critics as targeting Muslim women who choose to cover themselves with the burqa, a head to toe garment, or the niqab, a cloth covering the face.

Human rights campaigners say the law will have particularly negative consequences for Muslim women, limiting their identity and freedom.

"If the intention of this law was to protect women's rights it fails abjectly. Instead, the law criminalizes women for their choice of clothing and in so doing flies in the face of those freedoms Denmark purports to uphold," Amnesty International's Europe Director Gauri van Gulik said in a statement. He added that the law is "neither necessary nor proportionate and violates the rights to freedom of expression and religion."

Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, told NPR, that the new law has wider repercussions. "It will have the affect of further polarizing society and further alienating the Muslim minority population. There is only one minority group that is affected by this — Muslims."

Proponents of the ban say that the veil is a form of female oppression, obstructs communication in schools and court rooms and presents a potential security hazard.

The government also says the ban is not aimed at any religion and does not ban headscarves, turbans or the traditional Jewish skull cap, the Associated Press reported.

But veils have been a source of controversy in Denmark for years. Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in 2010 that "the burqa and the niqab do not have their place in the Danish society. They symbolize a conception of the woman and of the humanity to which we are fundamentally opposed and that we want to fight in the Danish society," according to the Library of Congress.

Thursday's outcome was embraced by Danish politician and member of the European Parliament Anders Vistisen who tweeted, "Today, the Danish Parliament approved a law banning burqa and niqab. Congratulations Denmark!"

The Danish People's Party, which had proposed prison sentences, tweeted "finally adopted!" with an image of a veiled woman with a "no symbol" across her face.

Because the law allows people to cover their faces for a "recognizable purpose," such as in cold weather, Justice Minister Soeren Pape Poulsen said, police officers will have to use "common sense," according to the AP.

Denmark joins the ranks of France, Austria and Belgium who have implemented similar laws.</s>Denmark joined a list of European countries on Thursday banning garments covering the face, including Islamic full-face veils in public places. The law, which was passed with 75 votes against 30, states, “Anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public will be punished with a fine.”

The Danish government had proposed to ban the full-face veil earlier this year in February. “It is incompatible with the values in Danish society and disrespectful to the community to keep one’s face hidden when meeting each other in public spaces,” Justice Minister, Søren Pape Poulsen had said.

The law is popularly known as the “burqa ban”.

The Danish government cleared that the law does not ban headscarves, turbans and traditional Jewish skull cap and it has not been passed to take an aim at any religion.

AP news reported that the law allows people to cover their faces for “recognisable purposes” like in biting weather or using motorcycle helmets under the Danish traffic rules.

Denmark lawmakers have been mulling over the law since last year and despite fears of religious freedom, the three-party centre-right minority government, its ally the Danish People’s Party and the main opposition Social Democrats had supported the ban in 2017.

Justice Minister Soeren Pape Poulsen left the decision on the “common sense” of the police officers to call out on people violating the law. The law will come into force on August 1, 2018.

First-time offenders of the law would risk a fine of 1,000 kroner which would amount to US dollar 156. People violating the law more than once would risk a fine of up to 10,000 kroner, which would amount to US dollar 1600 or imprisonment up to six months.

Addition to this, any person forcing or threatening another to wear a full-face veil or garments covering the face would risk two years imprisonment.

Similar laws are followed by Austria, France and Belgium.

In 2017, the European court of human rights upheld a Belgian ban on wearing full-face veils in public spaces.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Danish politicians passed a law Thursday banning clothing that covers the face, making wearing full-face Islamic veils like the burqa and niqab in public punishable with a $160 fine.

While the government says the law doesn’t target any religion, the party that first suggested the law nine years ago, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party, said it was a reflection that full-face Islamic veils were incompatible with Danish culture. The party rose to become the second-largest party in the parliament in the 2015 elections.

The move follows the passage of similar laws in France, Belgium and Austria amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment, but critics in Denmark say it impinges on women’s rights to dress in accordance with their religious beliefs.

“If the intention of this law was to protect women’s rights, it fails abjectly. Instead, the law criminalises women for their choice of clothing and in so doing flies in the face of those freedoms Denmark purports to uphold,” saidAmnesty International’s Europe director Gauri van Gulik.

Van Gulik added it would “have a particularly negative impact on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa.”

“All women should be free to dress as they please and to wear clothing that expresses their identity or beliefs,” she said.

Lawmakers voted 75-30 in favor of the law, which was held under an agreement whereby individual MPs were free to vote in accordance with their personal views. More than 70 politicians opted not to cast a vote.</s>Denmark has joined several European countries in banning garments that cover the face, including Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa, in a move condemned by human rights campaigners as “neither necessary nor proportionate”.

In a 75-30 vote with 74 absentees on Thursday, Danish lawmakers approved the law presented by Denmark’s centre-right governing coalition. The government says it is not aimed at any religions and does not ban headscarves, turbans or the traditional Jewish skull cap.

But the law is popularly known as the “burqa ban” and is mostly seen as being directed at the dress worn by some Muslim women. Few Muslim women in Denmark wear full-face veils.

Those violating the law that comes into force on 1 August risk a fine of 1,000 kroner (£118). Austria, France and Belgium have similar laws.

Following the Danish vote, Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, said: “All women should be free to dress as they please and to wear clothing that expresses their identity or beliefs. This ban will have a particularly negative impact on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa.

“Whilst some specific restrictions on the wearing of full-face veils for the purposes of public safety may be legitimate, this blanket ban is neither necessary nor proportionate and violates the rights to freedom of expression and religion.

“If the intention of this law was to protect women’s rights it fails abjectly. Instead, the law criminalises women for their choice of clothing and in so doing flies in the face of those freedoms Denmark purports to uphold.”

Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Thelegislation was passed by 75 votes to 30 in the Danish parliament on Thursday and will come into force on 1 August. Those violating the ban will be forced to pay 1,000 kroner (134 euros), with fines 10 times higher for repeat offenders.

Like France's 2011 law, the wording of the new ban does not specifically mention Muslim women but it specifies that "anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public will be punished with a fine".

The legislation does allow people to cover their face when there is a “recognisable purpose” such as cold weather or complying with other legal requirements, for example using motorcycle helmets under Danish traffic rules.

This is not the first time the Danish parliament has tried to implement the ban.

There was an initial attempt in 2009 when the government conducted thorough research on the issue to gauge public opinion.

“There are probably no more than a handful of women in all of Denmark who actually wear burkas," says Margit Warburg, a professor of sociology of religion at the University of Copenhagen who was part of the original survey team into people wearing veils in Denmark.

The survey discovered that only 150 women regularly wore niqabs and th did not find any women at that time wearing burkas.

"What was also interesting was that half of the women who wore niqabs were actually Danish converts, which means that they were born and raised in Denmark," Warburg comments. "They made their own choice to wear veils, their fathers did not force them to, which is the key argument made by parliament for banning the veils.”

There are already provisions in Danish legislation to prevent women being forced to wear anything by husbands or family members.

"Denmark already has very strict leglisation in place to ensure that women are not forced to wear, for example, the niqab, and it can carry a penalty of up to four years," Dan Hindgaul, head of Policy and Communications at Amnesty Denmark/ "Our position is crystal clear: we want women to decide for themselves. It shouldn't be the state that decides and it shouldn't be their husbands."

According to recent surveys, the Danish people support the ban now, with almost two-thirds of the population endorsing it.

"I don't think this is so much about the Danish people being afraid of Muslims, but rather the Danish politicians being afraid of voters,"said Professor Brian Jacobsen of the University of Copenhagen. "The politicans have to show a will to marginalise Islamic practice in Danish society to demonstrate that they want to protect Danish cultural heritage. This is a way to take on the far right politics, to make some concessions."

France was the first European country to ban the full-face veil in public places, passing its law in April 2011, seven years after the passing another law prohibiting conspicuous religious symbols in state schools.

To read about the background to France's burka ban click here

It was followed a few months later by Belgium, which outlawed any clothing that obscures a person's identity in a public place.

Full or partial bans have since been passed in Austria, Bulgaria and the southern German state of Bavaria, with the Dutch parliament agreeing a ban in late 2016, pending approval from the country's higher chamber.

This appears to be the first step in Denmark's targeting its small Muslim population with legislation. The next issue on the table is the possible banning of the practice of circumcision.

“A large part of the Danish people want to ban circumcision.” said Jacobsen. “There will be a discussion about this in parliament next and many of the parties have said that they will not take a party line on this, so members are free to vote as they want. I expect there will be some surprises in this discussion.”</s>Denmark has become the latest country in Europe to ban attires that cover one's face, which includes the burqa and the niqab worn by many Muslim women. While the ban was proposed in 2017, the Danish Parliament voted in its favour on Thursday, May 31.

After receiving 75 votes in favour of the ban, the law will come into effect on August 1, 2018, and violations will carry a penalty of 1,000 kroner ($156) for first-time offenders and about 10,000 kroner ($1,568) by the fourth violation, reported Reuters.

A niqab covers everything apart from the eyes, whereas a burqa also covers the eyes with a transparent veil. About 200 women reportedly cover their faces in Denmark and this ban is set to affect all of them.

Defending its decision, the Danish government said that the ban was not aimed at a particular religion and would cover all kinds of face veils such as balaclavas. However, the ban will not affect other things such as turbans, headscarves, and Jewish skull caps.

Justice minister Soeren Pape Poulsen said that the police would be entrusted with the monitoring and they would use their "common sense" and check for people violating the law. If found with a face covering at a public place, people would be asked to go home.

"With a ban on covering the face, we are drawing a line in the sand and underlining that in Denmark

we show each other trust and respect by meeting face to face," the Huffington Post quoted Poulsen as saying.

Meanwhile, Denmark is not the only European nation to impose the restriction, which is popularly called the "burqa ban." Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria imposed this ban quite some time ago. The first country to ban a Muslim veil was France and the restriction came into effect in 2011.

Why have nations banned burqa and why the debate?

The European nations have banned the burqa and niqab and this has been a hot topic of debate for a while now. While some believe that women should be allowed to choose what they wear – full-face coverings or not -- some believe that such coverings oppress the women and it is almost like they are not allowed to have a voice. Several countries have also said covering the face creates security issues.

The Norwegian government had earlier said that veil in all the schools, nurseries and educational institutions must be banned as it obstructs "good communication" between pupils and teachers.

"We do not want clothes covering the face in nurseries, schools and universities... These clothes prevent good communication, which is important for students to receive a good education," Minister of Education and Research Torbjorn Roe Isaksen had earlier said in a statement.

"Clothes covering the face, like the niqab and the burqa, have no place in Norwegian schools. It is a fundamental value to be able to communicate with each other," AFP had quoted Norwegian politician Per Sandberg as saying.

The French Ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud had also earlier said that burqa was not a neutral attire. "A burqa is not a neutral attire. It conveys a conception of the woman as an object of lust, a subject and not an agent of history," he had tweeted.

However, University of Oxford lecturer Sundas Ali believes that the ban isn't really fair and also said that extremism has affected the way the Islamic attire is treated. "I think in public a Muslim woman, or anybody really, should be allowed to dress however they want -- so long that it doesn't disrupt society or social harmony," CNN quoted Ali as saying.

Shereen El Feki, author of 'Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World', also told CNN that a burqa or niqab doesn't always mean oppression and a lot of time, women wear it on their own will as per their interpretation of their religion.

"For some it's fashion, for others it's clearly an expression of their modesty and how they interpret Islam. And for a lot of women it's freedom," Feki added. "It's a tool of empowerment."</s>Denmark has become the latest European country to ban the Islamic burqa and niqab by outlawing the wearing of face veils in public.

A majority of lawmakers voted in favour of the ban as women wearing conservative religious clothing looked on.

First-time offenders of the so-called burqa ban - which goes into effect on August 1 - will be fined 1,000 Danish crowns (about £115).

The fine increases to 10,000 crowns (£11,500) after a fourth violation.

But Denmark's government insists the law isn't targeting any religions.

Denmark is the fifth European country to pass a 'burqa ban' in public, joining Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and France.

The Swiss canton of Tessin has outlawed the religious clothing.

In the Netherlands, face veils are banned in some public places, including schools, hospitals and public transport.

On Thursday, Danish lawmakers voted 75-30 in favour of the legislation proposed by the country's centre-right coalition.

An additional 74 members of parliament abstained from the vote.

The niqab is a veil that covers a woman's entire face except the eyes, while the one-piece burqa covers the entire face and has a transparent veil.
Denmark's parliament votes 75–30 to ban garments that cover the face, which includes Islamic veils such as the niqāb and burqa. Those violating the law risk a fine of 1,000 kroner. Similar bans already exist in Austria, Belgium and France.