Dutch plan to ban burqa days ahead of election

By Rohan Minogue Nov 18, 2006, 14:01 GMT

Amsterdam - The ban on the burqa announced by hardline Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk came almost a year after the cabinet began considering the issue - and less than a week before the country votes in a closely fought general election.

The proposed ban - which has yet to go before parliament and, if passed, is certain to face a challenge in the courts - came as opinion polls showed Verdonk's liberal VVD party losing ground.

Shortly before Christmas last year the Dutch parliament passed a motion put forward by maverick anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders calling for a ban.

The motion received support from the ruling Christian Democrats and their VVD coalition partners.

Verdonk, who said she regarded the burqa as 'a symbol of social division,' expressed broad support at the time but added she suspected there might be legal problems and that experts were to report on the issue in January this year.

Muslim leaders expressed a mixture of astonishment and amusement at the fuss. The burqa and niqab - garments worn by observant Muslim women in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf - are rare sights.

'I have yet to see my first burqa on the street in the Netherlands,' was the response of Haci Karacaer of the Milli Gorus association of Turkish mosques.

A journalist who went out onto the streets wearing one reported reactions from Muslims ranging from the amazed to the scurrilous.

There the matter rested until Friday afternoon, when Verdonk announced that the panel of experts had finally reported there were no legal objections and that she would propose a ban to parliament 'as soon as possible.'

'The cabinet finds it undesirable that clothing that covers the face - such as the burqa - is worn in public, out of consideration for public order, safety and the security of other citizens,' she said in a formal statement.

Opposition to the burqa and to the hijab, a scarf that covers the hair, ears and neck but not the face, is widespread in Europe. French and German education authorities have long wrestled with whether teachers and students should be allowed to wear them.

Jack Straw, a former British foreign secretary, generated a storm recently by saying he asked women to remove veils when they came to his constituency office.

But Verdonk's announcement - and more particularly its timing - drew a sceptical reaction, especially as Wilder's party is gathering support among those fearful of the Muslim immigrant population.

The Dutch media and public were in any case far more concerned with reports that military intelligence officers had maltreated prisoners in southern Iraq three years ago.

'It's just election politics,' said Anneke, a Dutchwoman, over a beer in an Amsterdam bar with a group of friends. 'Wilders' group is taking votes away from the VVD, and Verdonk wants to undermine him.'