Germany: Partial burqa ban

The lower house of the German federal parliament has given way to pressure from right wing populist parties by passing a ban on the wearing of the full face covering burqa and niqab by civil servants, judges and the military.  The decision has still to be ratified by the upper house of parliament and does not affect the wearing of the hijab, or muslim headscarf. This is largely a symbolic gesture in a country where few non-christian women wear religious dress in public. It also falls short of the complete public bans on such dress in both Belgium and France.  Germany’s constitutional court has also previously ruled that “in a society that gives space to different religious beliefs, individuals do not have the right to be shielded from professions of faith by others”.

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