AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Within a few weeks, the niqab and burqa have once again returned to the agenda of political and legal debates in a number of European countries. Simultaneously with the approval of a series of measures and decisions that target covering the face in public places or educational institutions.
According to a report by Al Jazeera Net, the latest of these decisions was taken in Spain. Where the city council of "Lleida" in the east of this country approved an amendment to the regulations related to civil behavior and social coexistence that prohibits wearing any clothing or item that completely conceals the face in public places. An action that also includes the burqa and niqab.
According to the new regulations, violators will face fines between 400 and 750 euros. Of course, exceptions have been considered for places of worship and some cases related to the exercise of fundamental rights or accepted social customs.
These regulations were approved with the votes of the ruling Socialist Party in the city of Lleida, Spain, the "Together for Catalonia" party (Junts), and the right-wing "Vox" party. While the "People's" party and several other parties opposed it.
Unlike some other European countries such as France, Portugal, and Belgium, Spain has so far not had a national law to ban or restrict wearing the niqab and burqa.
Decisions Taken Simultaneously
Spain's action came after the Portuguese Parliament last July approved a law prohibiting covering the face in public places. The President of Portugal also signed this law in August.
According to this law, violators may face fines between 150 and 3,000 euros. However, exceptions have been considered for cases with medical, professional, artistic, weather conditions, as well as places of worship.
In Italy as well, "Giorgia Meloni," the Prime Minister of this country, announced that her government will ban wearing the burqa and niqab in schools. The Italian government cabinet also approved this decree on September 24 of this year.
The Italian government has introduced this decision as part of its policy to strengthen integration in the educational system. A policy that also includes other measures such as learning the Italian language and changing the composition of classes.
What Is the Argument of the Proponents?
The arguments of the proponents of the ban differ from country to country, but generally revolve around three main ideas: the possibility of identifying individuals, integration and communication in society, and protecting women from coercion or discrimination.
In Italy, Meloni has introduced her government's decision as part of the integration policy in schools and said that the new laws are implemented with the aim of preventing the formation of isolated educational environments and strengthening equal opportunities.
In the city of Lleida in Spain as well, local officials say that these regulations are related to civil behavior and women's rights. While critics believe such regulations restrict religious freedom.
"Murad Al-Boudhawi" from the "Homeland for Freedom and Justice" association in Lleida says it is better to deal with women who wear the niqab through dialogue, education, and help in entering the job market, not through bans.
Human Rights Criticism
In contrast, human rights organizations have criticized these types of bans and believe that restricting wearing the niqab can lead to the isolation of women who choose to cover their faces.
Amnesty International, after the law was approved in the Portuguese Parliament, announced that this ban is a threat to human rights. This organization warned that such a law affects freedom of expression and religious freedom and can lead to greater social isolation and difficulty in accessing education, employment, and public services.
Also, the former Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, in a position he had previously taken, had warned that a general ban on the niqab may lead to greater isolation of women instead of liberating them. He had at that time emphasized the connection of this issue with the rights related to privacy and religious freedom that are recognized in the European Convention on Human Rights.
The United Nations also, in a report on the rights of women who wear the niqab, announced that the Human Rights Committee of this organization in 2018, in two cases against France, concluded that a general ban on covering the face has had a disproportionate effect on Muslim women. This committee, in both cases, assessed the ban as a form of discrimination based on gender and religion.
Also, "Pablo Zaldibia Luengo," a researcher at the University of the Basque Country in Spain, in a specialized legal study on the niqab in Spain, has concluded that restricting wearing the full niqab from the perspective of human rights and the principle of proportionality is only justifiable when it is related to requirements related to public security and individual identification.
Why Have These Decisions Now Coincided?
The available data so far does not show that there is a single European decision or direct coordination among these three countries regarding banning or restricting the niqab.
However, the niqab has become part of a broader debate about immigration, social integration, and national identity in Europe. Although the number of women who wear the niqab in most of these countries is limited, this covering has gained considerable symbolic value in the European dispute about the limits of the presence of religion in the public sphere.
These actions are also being taken in circumstances where Europe is witnessing severe political polarization between right and left currents. Simultaneously with the rise of right-wing and nationalist forces that have placed issues related to immigration, national identity, and social integration at the center of political competition.
In such circumstances, separating the re-raising of issues such as the niqab, hijab, and Islamic symbols from the current political and electoral atmosphere is difficult. Because these issues have become topics that some right-wing currents use to connect with their electoral bases and attract public support.
This debate has also been raised simultaneously with the increase in manifestations of hostility and discrimination against Muslims in a number of European countries.
According to a report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the level of racism and discrimination that Muslims face has increased compared to previous years. In this agency's survey in 13 European countries, 47 percent of Muslim participants said they had faced racial discrimination during the five years prior to the survey, and 27 percent also stated that they had been subjected to racial harassment during the same period.
According to this survey, women who wear religious clothing were among the groups most exposed to discrimination. This agency has also referred to the existence of manifestations of hostility against Muslims in political discourse.
In such circumstances, human rights activists believe the danger is not limited to the legal measures themselves, but there is also concern that religious symbols may become a tool for discrimination against Muslims or portraying them as the other in European society. An issue that, in their view, can lead to the intensification of exclusion instead of the realization of social integration.
Previous Laws and Measures
The recent actions in Spain, Italy, and Portugal are not the beginning of European restrictions against the niqab, and a series of laws have previously been approved in other European countries.
France was the first European country to impose a general ban on covering the face in public places in 2010. After that, Belgium in 2011, Bulgaria in 2016, and Denmark and Austria also took actions in this regard in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, and Germany have also imposed partial and different restrictions that, depending on the country, include places such as schools, hospitals, public transportation, and government institutions.
In Switzerland as well, voters in a referendum in 2021 voted for a national ban on covering the face in public places. A ban that was implemented in 2025.
However, the debate is not limited to the niqab. The continuation of restrictions on covering the face has raised a broader question of whether some European countries may in the future expand the scope of these measures and also include the hijab.
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