Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen is reportedly searching for to increase the general public veil ban to colleges and take away campus prayer rooms
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has referred to as for brand new restrictions on Islamic practices within the nation, citing considerations about non secular stress and the oppression of girls.
The EU nation outlawed full-face veils in public areas in 2018, however the ban didn’t lengthen to colleges or different academic establishments.
On Thursday, Frederiksen reportedly informed native information company Ritzau that the exemption was a mistake, calling for the prevailing ban to be prolonged to school rooms and universities.
“There are gaps within the laws that permit Muslim social management and oppression of girls at academic establishments in Denmark,” she mentioned.
The Danish prime minister added she would name for prayer rooms to be faraway from colleges and universities.
“You will have the appropriate to be an individual of religion and follow your faith, however democracy takes priority,” she mentioned. “While you’re in school, you’re there to be in school to get your schooling.”
Frederiksen argued that prayer rooms might create inclusiveness in concept, however in follow “present a breeding floor for discrimination and stress.” Schooling ministers can be tasked with coordinating with universities to make sure prayer rooms are faraway from tutorial packages, she mentioned.
The 2018 veil ban, which incorporates the Islamic niqab (a face veil that leaves a slit for the eyes) and the burqa (a full physique masking with mesh across the eyes), carries a fantastic of 1,000 kroner ($154) for a primary offense, rising to 10,000 kroner for repeat violations. Amnesty Worldwide has described the ban as a “discriminatory violation of girls’s rights.”
Frederiksen’s feedback observe suggestions by the Fee for the Forgotten Ladies’s Battle, which earlier this yr urged the federal government to increase the veil ban to academic establishments. The identical fee proposed banning hijabs in major colleges in 2022, however that plan was dropped in 2023 after public protests.
Bans on face coverings have turn out to be extra widespread throughout the EU, with France having launched the primary such measure in 2011. Related full or partial bans have since been enforced in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, the Netherlands, components of Germany, and a number of other areas in Italy and Spain.
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