Thread: France Braces for New Law Banning Face-Covering Veils for Mu

France Braces for New Law Banning Face-Covering Veils for Muslim Women

April 5, 2011 at 10:38am
by Emily Esfahani Smith
152 Comments

TRAPPES, France (AP) — Karima has a plan. If police stop her for wearing a veil over her face, she’ll remove it – then put it back on once they’re out of sight. If that doesn’t work, she’ll stay home, or even leave France.

For Muslim women who cover their faces with veils, it is the moment for making plans. Starting April 11, a new law banning garments that hide the face takes effect. Women who disobey it risk a fine, special classes and a police record.



The law comes as Muslims face what some see as a new jab at their religion: President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party is holding a debate Tuesday on the place of Islamic practices, and Islam itself, in strictly secular but traditionally Catholic France.

The increasing focus on France’s Muslims – who number at least 5 million, the largest such population in western Europe – comes with presidential elections a year away and support for a far-right party growing. A recent palpable rise in tensions has also been boosted by fears of a mass migration of Muslims due to disarray in the Arab world.

Interior Minister Claude Gueant put it bluntly Monday.

“This growth in the number of (Muslims) and a certain number of behaviors cause problems,â€

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“The problem of veils and so on become public issues because people are afraid,â€