BURQA BAN IN SWITZERLAND COULD BE ENFORCED WITH $1,000 FINES

 Fri 14 October 2022:

The Swiss government has submitted a draft law to the parliament that would impose a $1,000 fine on those who violate the country’s ban on face coverings.

Following the vote in the referendum to forbid face coverings last year, the draft law was sent on Wednesday. 51.2 percent of voters approved the proposed ban, also referred to as the “burqa ban,” but it was criticized at the time for being Islamophobic and sexist.

After consultations, the cabinet watered down calls to anchor the ban in the criminal code and fine offenders up to 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,000).

“The ban on covering faces aims to ensure public safety and order. Punishment is not the priority,” it said in a statement.

Right-wing history

The initiative to ban facial coverings was launched by the Egerkinger Komitee, a group including politicians of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which says it organises “resistance against the claims to power of political Islam in Switzerland”.

The bill does not name burqas or niqabs, but prohibits people from concealing their faces in public spaces like public transportation, restaurants or walking in the street, specifying that the eyes, nose and mouth must be visible.

There are other exceptions to the law which include face coverings for reasons of security, climate, or health, meaning people are allowed to wear masks to protect against COVID-19.

“Anchoring dress codes in the constitution is not a liberation struggle for women but a step back into the past,” the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland said, adding Swiss values of neutrality, tolerance and peacemaking had suffered in the debate.

Of the 8.6 million people living in Switzerland, 5% are Muslims, with the majority having origins in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey.

Only about 30 women in the country are believed to wear the niqab, according to estimates from the University of Lucerne.

One of the five nations that forbid face coverings is Switzerland. While Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria have full or partial bans on face coverings in public, France banned the wearing of a full face veil in public in 2011.

The face veil ban is “a dangerous policy that violates women’s rights, including freedom of expression and religion,” according to Amnesty International.