The German state of Bavaria is pressing ahead with its ban of the full-face veil in schools, universities, government workplaces and polling stations.
With a general election seven months away, the governing Bavarian conservatives are fearful of losing votes to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) and have decided to institute the ban.
“Communication happens not only via language but also via looks, facial expressions and gestures,” Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said this week after the regional government agreed a draft law to ban the full-face veil for civil servants and in public places where there are concerns for public safety.
“It’s the foundation of our interactions with each other and it’s the basis of our free and democratic order,” he said. “Concealing your face is at odds with this culture of communication.”
Herrmann said he expected Bavaria’s regional parliament to approve the law by the summer.
Last December, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a ban on full-face Muslim veils “wherever legally possible”. Since 2015, more than one million immigrants have arrived in Germany from Africa and the Middle East after Merkel said germany would accept them despite having no mandate to do so. This has led to serious tensions in some parts of the country. In December, a Muslim fanatic killed 12 people by driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin.
France and Belgium have already banned the burka in public places while in Lombardy, northern Italy, it has been banned in hospitals and government offices.
Throughout Europe, support for Muslim immigration has dipped significantly.
A recent study of more than 10,000 people by London-based think-tank The Royal Institute of International Affairs found that 55 per cent of Europeans across 10 countries think further immigration from mostly-Muslim countries should stop.
Researchers quizzed citizens from Britain, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Poland. The poll was taken before Donald Trump issued an executive order banning the citizens of seven Muslim-majority states from entering the US.
