Moroccan Burqa-Wearing Woman Denied French Citizenship

France has denied citizenship to a veiled Moroccan woman on the grounds that her “radical” practice of Islam is incompatible with French values, particularly with mixité (the equality of the sexes). Le Monde daily newspaper claims it was the first time a Muslim applicant has been rejected because of his/her personal religious practice, particularly her black burqa. The woman, Faiza M., 32, is married to a French national, arrived in France in 2000, speaks French and has three French-born children. She began wearing the burqa upon her arrival in France at the request of her husband, says the court document, which also stated she wore it more by custom than by conviction. The document also noted that she had no sense of the meaning of secularism or of her right to vote. According to secondary reports by social services, Faiza M. lives in “total submission” to her husband and male relatives.

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International Herald Tribune

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