Banning the Burqa Makes No Sense

Belgium looks set to ban women from wearing the burqa or niqab in public later this month. Although opposition to the Islamic veil is understandable in democratic Western societies, banning it won't solve fundamental problems of integration.

Islam is essentially whatever Muslims believe. Some believe that their faith is perfectly compatible with beer. Others believe that the only suitable clothing for a woman is a burqa. Most Muslims fall somewhere between these two extremes.

Whether these religious convictions turn into a problem depends on the social context. In Afghanistan, beer is a problem but the burqa is not. In Belgium it is the other way around. There is now a broad coalition in Belgium, including Greens, liberals, Christian Democrats, socialists and the far-right, that wants to impose a legal ban on the wearing of the burqa and the face-covering veil known as the niqab. Such a ban would be enforced by fines or even a prison sentence.

A similar ban has been proposed in France and it would not be surprising if the burqa debate soon grips other European countries, including Germany. And this is despite the fact that very few women living in the West actually wear a burqa or niqab.