Denmark has passed a ban on full-face veils.
It becomes the latest in a number of European countries to pass such a ban. This new ban mainly affects Muslim women wearing a niqab or burka.
The law was passed by 75 votes to 30 in parliament on Thursday and will come into force on 1 August.
Those violating the ban will be forced to pay 1,000 kroner ($NZ224), with fines ten times higher for repeat offenders.
The wording of the new legislation does not specifically mention Muslim women. It says that “anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public will be punished with a fine”.
Speaking about the law, Denmark’s Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen said the ban was about Danish values.
Amnesty International has described the Danish vote as a “discriminatory violation of women’s rights”.
Where else in Europe has similar laws?
France was the first European country to ban the full-face veil in public places in April 2011.
It was followed a few months later by Belgium, which outlawed any clothing that obscures a person’s identity in a public place.
Full or partial bans have since been passed in Austria, Bulgaria and the southern German state of Bavaria.
6 Responses
Invasion of privacy much?
Leave the people who wear the veils privacy invasion much
this is so unfair for them
This is so sad and unfair to those people 🙁
this is a good thing
um i do not know if this a good thing or a bad thing