(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - "At a time when insecurity is growing in our streets, more and more people are hiding their faces behind a balaclava, a mask or a burqa,” said Oskar Freysinger, a lawmaker of the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"This makes it impossible to identify these people, a fact that is particularly troublesome in case of violence or identity checks."
The bill, titled “Masks off”, was approved by a 101-77 votes.
It bans the wearing of face-veils, which is also called Niqab, on public transport.
The bill also allows authorities to “ban or restrict access to public buildings to such individuals in order to guarantee the security of other users.”
The motion requires "anyone addressing a federal, cantonal or communal authority exercising his or her functions, to present themselves with their faces uncovered," said Freysinger.
The bill still needs to be approved by the upper house to become a law.
The wearing of face-veil has been the focus of growing debate in the West in recent years.
Several European countries as France, Belgium and the Netherland have banned the outfit.
While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil.
Scholars believe it is up to women to decide whether to take on the veil or burka, a loose outfit covering the whole body from head to toe and wore by some Muslim women.
Repercussions
Criticizing the ban, Swiss Muslims have warned of negative repercussions on Switzerland’s tolerant image.
"The cause raises fears of negative repercussions for an estimated 200 veiled Muslim women in Switzerland,” Qaasim Illi, spokesman of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS), told the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA).
“(This is) in addition to a further deterioration of the country's image abroad, given that the ban on minarets still remains trapped in the minds of the people."
He said the ban would affect high numbers of female tourists from Muslim countries who visit Switzerland while wearing the face-veil to spend vacations in luxury tourist areas, generating considerable amounts of revenue for the country.
The spokesman called on the upper house of parliament to reject the proposed ban.
In 2009, the SVP has championed a ban on the building of mosque minarets in the European country.
According to the CIA Factbook, Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims, representing 5 percent of the country’s nearly eight million people.
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