Holland is to become the latest European country to ban the burka, despite the fact that fewer than 100 Dutch women are thought to wear the face-covering Islamic dress. The Dutch government will agree to introduce a ban on Friday making the Netherlands the third country in Europe to prohibit the burka, behind France and Belgium. Women caught wearing a burka in public, on the streets, public transport and in schools or hospitals will be fined £330. There will be exemptions for mosques, or other religious buildings and for foreign women travelling through the transit lounges of international Dutch airports. Cabinet ministers will justify the ban with the argument that the burka does “not fit into our open society and women must participate fully.” The Dutch parliament was the first in Europe to demand a burka ban in 2005 after voting on a proposal tabled by Geert Wilders, at the start of his career as an anti-Islam politician.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 05:16:05 +0000
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