Women Muslim Niqab is Banned in Switzerland
"At a time when insecurity is growing in our streets, more and more people are hiding their faces behind a balaclava, a mask or a burqa,” said Oskar Freysinger, a lawmaker of the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"This makes it impossible to identify these people, a fact that is particularly troublesome in case of violence or identity checks."
The bill, titled “Masks off”, was approved by a 101-77 votes.
It bans the wearing of face-veils, which is also called Niqab, on public transport.
The bill also allows authorities to “ban or restrict access to public buildings to such individuals in order to guarantee the security of other users.”
The motion requires "anyone addressing a federal, cantonal or communal authority exercising his or her functions, to present themselves with their faces uncovered," said Freysinger.
In 2009, the SVP has championed a ban on the building of mosque minarets in the European country.
According to the CIA Factbook, Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims, representing 5 percent of the country’s nearly eight million people.
German Man Behind Successful Campaign
"When politicians get worked up into a frenzy, Alexander Segert can just lean back," wrote the Sunday edition of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Indeed, it is a German man who is behind the successful anti-minaret campaign. The 46-year-old from Hamburg moved to Switzerland after completing his university studies. He worked as a journalist for the conservative Schweizerzeit newspaper and later for the anti-Islam newspaper Bürger und Christ, or "Citizens and Christ," in which he wrote tirades against a liberal society. "I've been able to be active with the SVP on referendum and election campaigns for years," Segert told SPIEGEL ONLINE. His work includes an infamous rat poster that shows Social Democrats as greedy rats chewing away at the country. Another made headlines in 2007 by depicting three sheep on a Swiss flag kicking away a single black sheep with the words "create safety." Segert told the NZZ am Sonntag that he would also be willing to conceive a campaign with the slogan "Germans get out!"
GENEVA, Sept 29 (KUNA) -- The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) Thursday expressed its deep concern about the accord reached by the Swiss Federal Parliament on a ban of the Niqab by a majority of 101 to 77 votes. The ban was proposed by the right wing Swiss Peoples Party (known as SVP).
Speaking to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), the Islamic Central Council's spokesman, Qaasim Illi, expressed hops that, "the Council of States would be rational and correct the National Council's failings just as they had rejected a similar attempt by the representatives of the State of Aargau northern of Switzerland." He further outlined that what causes uneasiness about the National Council's decision was the impression given by the legislators that Islam was rejected by the Swiss society, Muslims were not welcomed and that this political trend was on the rise among the Swiss.
Illi also expressed his surprise that the SVP managed to win the support of the Swiss Liberal party as well as the Christian Democrats.
"The cause raises fears of negative repercussions for an estimated 200 veiled Muslim women in Switzerland in addition to a further deterioration of the country's image abroad, given that the ban on minarets still remains trapped in the minds of the people," said Illi to KUNA.
The ICCS state that a large number of female tourists from Islamic countries visiting Switzerland wear the Niqab and are used to spending their vacation in luxury tourist areas that generate considerable amounts of revenue for the country- much more that than tourists in other regions of the world.
The ICCS also highlighted the fact that Islamophobia was not a phenomena restricted to politicians but rather appears to be a wider social problem, where Muslims suffer in their daily lives leading to discrimination in the job and housing markets.
According to the ICCS, Muslim women are mostly affected by Islamophobia specifically those who face difficulties for wearing the Islamic head scarf-hijab in some public schools or when trying to find a job. These women often get confronted with verbal attacks whilst trying to adhere to the Islamic dress code.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2193340&language=en
Comments
Post a Comment