The coronavirus pandemic has thrown up an interesting paradox in European countries that have banned the burqa, full-face veil. In some French cities, for example, failure to cover your face and protect against COVID-19 can land you a €135 fine. Yet, officially at least, you could also be fined as much as €150 for covering Read more
Full-face burqas have been banned in some public places in Holland. The Dutch parliament approved the ban by a majority of 132 out of the 150-seat house. Read more
A foreign student had nightmares after a shopper told her to either take off her burqa or leave New Zealand while she was shopping at a Dunedin supermarket, a court has been told. Yuet Rappard, a farm worker, appeared in front of Justices of the Peace in the Dunedin District Court yesterday and was found Read more
With the collapse of the Dutch centre-right government, the Netherlands may now drop some of its most eye-popping proposals aimed at Muslims and other immigrants and could soften its strong anti-immigration rhetoric. A ban on Muslim face veils, such as the Arabic-style niqabs that leave the eyes uncovered and Afghan-style burqas that cover the face Read more
A French court fined two Muslim women on Thursday for wearing full-face veils in public, the first time a judge has imposed punishment under a “burqa ban” law that has become a legal and cultural battleground across Europe. One of the women pledged immediately to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn Read more
Australian authorities said motorists who refused to take off face-covering veils such as the burqa when asked to do so by police could be sent to jail for up to a year.
Australian Muslims want interest-free loans for religious reasons, and recognition of sharia law as it applies to banking practices and family law. These are the main outcomes from a survey of Australia’s Muslim leaders and revealed by the Sun Herald newspaper. Imam Yusuf Parker, from the Alhidayah Centre in Perth, said Islam forbade the charging or Read more
The Consulate-General of Saudi Arabia has written to the New Zealand Government to complain after two incidents in which Saudi Arabian women were told by bus drivers that they couldn’t board a bus because of their Muslim veil. Dr Sameer Aljabri, the husband of one of the women, who works at the Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission in Auckland, said Read more