Starting august 1st 2019, the Netherlands bans the burqa, and the Niqab. This law, 'het boerkaverbod' or 'the Burqa-ban' has been 14 years in the making. And yes, you might say this is anti-islamic, but I am going to disagree here. Ofcourse rightwing politician Geert Wilders, who has been advocating for this Burqa-ban, has a strong anti-islamic tendency. But he isn't the one who made this law. The government has been debating this issue for 14 years and they made it, in my opinion, fair. Because this law doesn't just ban burqas and niqabs, it does more than that.
The Netherlands is a liberal country. They were the first to legalise same-sex-marriage. There is legalised and regulated prostitution and there is a tolerance for personal soft drug use. Just banning the Burqa and Niqab solely on religious grounds would be a-typical for the Netherlands, so they didn't. But what is it that they did they do?
Well, the Burqa and Niqab are not completely banned. People are still allowed to wear them, unless they enter a public transportation vehicle, government buildings, healthcare centres and educational facilities. In these public areas the head gear is banned.
And this is the point that makes it fair. The "burqa-ban" isn't limited to religious head gear. It also applies to head gear like balaclavas, masks and full-face-helmets. You can not wear anything that covers your face, making you unrecognizable. Instead of making this law about a religious thing, they made it about public safety, which I applaud.
Ofcourse people will object to this and call it a cop-out or an excuse for bigotry against religion. The criticism seems fair, seeing as to how the initiation of this law by right-winger Geert Wilders definitely had a islamophobic background, however, public safety is important and being able to identify perpetrators is important. When not only Burqas and Niqabs but all other head gear that covers the face is banned, this is fair. And, it is not a total ban. Outside the designated areas people still can wear their desired headgear.
Besides the religious objections against this law, there other concerns. People opposing the law are afraid that people, who applaud this law, will use it in order to harrass Islamic people who wear a burqa or Niqab. And this is a concern I share. The law clearly states a partial ban for certain locations. Outside those locations people are allowed to cover their faces any way they like. So, there is no reason to harass people wearing traditional clothing, if they don't break the law.
Another concern is that people will perform 'citizens arrests' when the new law is violated. This might lead to situations getting out of hand. And here I would hope that people wearing Burqas or Niqabs don't use this new law to provoke, just because they disagree with this law. There are better ways to show you disagree. Ofcourse I also hope no one will go and try to make a citizens arrest over wearing head gear. People should just try and use some common sense here. Is that too much to ask?
All of us need to life together in one multicultural society and we should respect eachother and our laws. Looking at how things are going in Iran at the moment, where women who do not wear a Hijab, Chador, Niqab or Burqa, or take it off can face up to 10 years in prison, I believe we should be lucky, that the Netherlands is a democracy and there are ways to show you disagree with laws and you can try to have them changed.
All in all, eventough I have some concerns, I do believe it's much ado about nothing. As long as people, pro- or anti-burqa ban, behave themselves, there won't be an issue. In Belgium, France and Denmark there already is a "burqa-ban" and there don't seem to have been any issues surrounding this. Looking at the public safety part of the issue I do believe this law is fine. Looking at the religious or cultural aspect, I don't see a big impact, as it isn't a complete ban. Besides it doesn't apply to only religious head gear, but to all face covering headgear.
I don't mind this law, but then again it doesn't affect me. People who are affected by it might disagree with me and feel it is discriminatory against their culture or religion. But with the way the law is written, I do feel they solved that issue. Did I say already that I wasn't affected by this law... So, maybe I am biased in my opinion...
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