French parliament creating commission to study wearing of burqas, full-body veils
By APTuesday, June 23, 2009
French parliament creates group to study burqa
PARIS — The French parliament created a commission Tuesday to study the wearing of body-covering burqas and niqabs in France, a day after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Islamic garments turn women into prisoners.
The 32-member commission, with members from France’s four major political parties, will hold hearings that could lead to legislation banning burqas from being worn in public.
Some critics have warned that studying the issue could stigmatize France’s Muslims.
“Banning the burqa will not give freedom to women,” Jean-Marie Fardeau, director of the Paris office of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “It will only stigmatize and marginalize women who wear it.”
France has Western Europe’s largest Muslim population, estimated at 5 million. A small but growing group of French women wear burqas and niqabs, which either cloak the entire body or cover everything but the eyes.
On Monday, Sarkozy told lawmakers he supported banning burqas in public, calling them “a sign of debasement” for women.
“We cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Sarkozy said. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.”
Last week, a group of 60 lawmakers from all political parties signed a petition demanding a parliamentary inquiry on the wearing of burqas. Muslim groups and government officials say it is difficult to know how many women wear burqas and niqabs in France, but estimate the number to be at least in the hundreds. They are far less prevalent than simpler Muslim head scarves.
The commission is expected within six months to complete its work, which could lead to a proposed law on burqas.
A similar type of commission led to a 2004 law banning the wearing of Muslim head scarves at public schools, along with Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.
In France, the terms “burqa” and “niqab” often are used interchangeably. A burqa is a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan — with only a mesh screen over the eyes. A niqab is a full-body veil, often black, with slits for the eyes.
