Finland: Foreign minister opposes burka ban Via YLE : Finland’s Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb is not in favour of a ban on wearing the burkha face-veil. He told the provincial paper Satakunnan Kansa that diversity should be respected. He added banning the burkha sends the wrong message from Europe to the Muslim world
Spain: Parliament rejects general burka ban bill Via AP : Spain’s Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing in public places Islamic veils that reveal only the eyes. However, the Socialist government has said it favors including a ban on people wearing burqas in government buildings in an upcoming bill on religious issues to be debated after parliament’s summer vacation break
UK: Burka ban ‘un-British’ Banning the wearing of burkas in public would be ‘rather un-British’, the Immigration Minister said today as he attacked efforts to make it illegal in this country. Damian Green said it would be ‘undesirable’ for Parliament to try to pass such a law, which would be at odds with the UK’s ‘tolerant and mutually respectful society’
Netherlands: Bus driver refuses service to woman in niqab A bus driver in the Dutch city of Uden prevented a 19 year old woman from getting on his bus because she was wearing a nikab. The Connexxion bus company does not approve of the driver’s behavior and apologized to the woman’s husband.
France: Doctors have difficulties dealing with burka While the French National Assembly is debating the law banning the burka in public, doctors are testifying of their difficulties in providing the necessary care to women wearing the full veil. Since the law of religious symbols passed in 2004, doctors and nurses have seen an increase in the number of women wearing the burka.
France: Muslim denied citizenship for refusing to shake hands Via Expatica : A Moroccan man who refused to shake hands with a French female official and whose wife wears the full Islamic veil has been denied French citizenship, the immigration ministry said Friday.
France: Socialists to boycott burqa ban vote France’s Socialist opposition decided Tuesday to boycott a vote on a bill outlawing the full-face Islamic veil in protest at the sweeping ban that will apply to all public places. Home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, France is set to adopt a bill banning the wearing of the face-covering veil despite warnings from top legal experts that the move may be unconstitutional
Catalonia: Parliament rejects burka ban Catalonia’s parliament rejected Thursday a move to ban the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public places across the Spanish region after reversing an initial vote. A resolution moved by conservatives and centre-right nationalists was passed, but opponents said there had been a technical error and some absentees at the moment of the vote
UK: Tory MP bids to ‘ban the burka’ A Tory MP has launched an effort to pass a law banning Muslim women from wearing the burka. Philip Hollobone will attempt to steer legislation through the Commons to regulate the wearing of “certain facial coverings”. The Kettering MP said his Bill would make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public “which would obviously have a big impact for those who wear full-face Islamic veils”.
Stockholm: City settles in headscarf case A woman who was forced off a state-run training program because she wore a long headscarf has now won damages from Stockholm’s local authority. The training course was aimed at leading to work as a cleaner. But when the woman arrived for the start of teaching, in April 2008, she was told that employers would not accept her clothing – and she was struck off the course.