(Newswire.net — August 3, 2019) — In the Netherlands, a law banning the wearing of a burqa came into force after the country’s parliament passed a partial ban last June regarding wearing them in public institutions such as schools, government offices, public transportation and hospitals, NY Times reports.
The law applies to all elements that conceal the face but the Muslim community feels that it especially targets woman who wear a burqa and niqab. It was stated that in the mentioned institutions where this law applies, officials will be able to ask women wearing a burqa to remove it when entering or to leave the building if they refuse.
In case of non-compliance with these provisions, there is a possibility for the police to intervene and fine the person. This law does not cover persons who have to cover their face because of work, patients who are staying in the hospital long periods of time, or their visitors, as well as persons who use masks during parties and other activities such as construction work.
Although the law states “elements that conceal the face,” Muslims see this law primarily as a ban on wearing a burqa.
According to the Dutch media, women who do not comply with the rules on the ban on wearing a burqa in these institutions will face a fine of 150 Euros (166 USD).
The Nida Party, founded by Muslims in the Netherlands, two weeks ago said that they would pay all the fines imposed on wearing a burqa. The Dutch newspaper “Algemeen Dagblad” has published a text dedicated specifically to wearing a burqa, which states that citizens and the public are entitled to verbal and physical intervention if harassed by a woman with a burqa.
Many Dutch citizens, especially Muslims, have expressed dissatisfaction with the said law on social media, stating that it labels Muslims and endangers their safety. Amnesty International in the Netherlands announced this week that women have the right to freedom of choice of clothing and to oppose the said law.
In addition, the Advisory Council of the Netherlands did not recommend this law for violations of religious freedoms; the House of Representatives adopted the law in 2016 for the most part. The mayors of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht said last year that they did not intend to enforce the law.
“It doesn’t fit Amsterdam to take women out of the tram for wearing a niqab,” Mayor Femke Halsema of Amsterdam said at the time. While a national law technically needs to be followed, she noted, officials can “decide which part of the enforcement you prioritize and which part you don’t.”
Of the Netherlands’ 17 million people, only about 150 to 400 women wear burqas and niqabs, according to Annelies Moors, a professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam. Moors said that about 5 percent of the adult population in Netherlands is Muslim, so the ban on wearing a burqa will solve a “nonexistent problem, but may in turn cause problems,” she said.