Chronology of niqab and burqa-related events in France
This timeline describes the recent legislation and announcements on the headscarf/hijab/burqa/niqab in France since 2004.
burqa ban in France
French Gerin report recommends full-faced veils to be banned
A 32-member multiparty panel led by Andre Gerin presented a panoply of recommendations aimed at dissuading Muslim women from wearing full-face covering headscarves. Another recommendation: denying resident cards and citizenship to women who wear all-encompassing veils. The panel was bitterly divided over recommending a ban on face-covering veils on the street, and that was not…
Possible burqa ban gains support in France
A report drawn up by French MPs calls for a ban on Afghan-style burqas and other garments that cover a woman’s face. The proposal has strong public support. According to an opinion poll by Ipsos for the magazine Le Point, 57 percent of voters favor a ban while 37 percent are opposed. The recommendations of…
Conference of French imams support possible burqa ban
A prominent French group of imams is backing a possible ban on the burqa. “We support any law that bans the wearing of a face veil in France,” said Hassan Chalghoumi, Chairman of the Conference of French Imams. The imam group, launched last year, says it fully supports a legal ban, basing their stance on…
French anthropologist Dounia Bouzar says Islam portrayed as “behind” in France
In this interview published in Le Monde with questions from the newspaper’s readership, Dounia Bouzar suggests that Islam in France is compatible with secularism and modernity, but that the media has erroneously reported that it’s evolutionarily behind. She claims that the reason why 57 percent of the French agree with the possibility of a law…