Dutch to ban burkas when picking children up from school

The Dutch government is to extend a ban on the burka to all schools, a measure that includes a prohibition on Muslim mothers from picking their children while wearing face-covering Islamic dress.

Ronald Plasterk, the Dutch education minister, announced that the ban would apply to all schools, including private Muslim religious establishments, and their immediate surroundings.

Not only teachers, but parents and all visitors to schools, including suppliers making deliveries, will be forbidden the burka, even though only 100 women in the Netherlands, out of a population of 16.5 million, are estimated to wear it.

Legislation is expected to be agreed by the Dutch parliament next year.

Mr Plasterk has cited security concerns and the need for teachers and schoolchildren to be able to communicate properly with each other.

“It is important for children to learn that proper communication requires being able to look the other person in the eye,” he said to Dutch MPs.

The legendary tolerance of the Dutch has been tested by years of controversy over the burka and radical Islam in the Netherlands.

Local authorities are now expected to follow the government ban by extending restrictions on Islamic dress to council buildings and public transport.

The burka, also known as a Niqab, is a wide dress covering the entire body, hair and neck face of a woman, leaving only a slit for the eyes.

The Dutch ban will not apply to the more common Hijab headscarf, where a woman’s face is clearly visible.

Read more Telegraph

City OKs Hijabs, In Public Pools

Concern for flowing fabric that could tangle around a swimmer’s legs or get caught in the filter intakes

CALGARY, ALBERTA CANADA — (OfficialWire) — 08/22/08 — The city of Calgary, Alberta, has decided to allow Muslim women to wear the hijab headscarf and Indians to wear saris in public swimming pools, safety allowing.

One of the restrictions enacted was that saris wouldn’t be permitted in the deep ends of pools because the flowing fabric could tangle around a swimmer’s legs or get caught in the filter intakes, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.

Heather Bruce, the Canadian city’s superintendent for aquatics and fitness, said a study found some Muslims and people of other religious minorities weren’t “participating in the water because they didn’t feel comfortable wearing traditional swimwear,” and the goal was to accommodate everyone, but safely.

“Young women and girls, around the age of 12, would stop taking swimming lessons because they weren’t comfortable in traditional swimwear,” Bruce said.

Official Wire

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