Disturbing Public Order

The Dutch are proposing to ban the burqa:

The Dutch cabinet has backed a proposal by the country’s immigration minister to ban Muslim women from wearing the burqa in public places.

The burqa, a full body covering that also obscures the face, would be banned by law in the street, and in trains, schools, buses and the law courts.

The cabinet said burqas disturb public order, citizens and safety.

Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk is known for her tough policies, and has clashed with past coalition partners.

Late last year she said the government would look into a ban after a majority in the Dutch parliament said they were in favour.

This is the same woman who proposed that only Dutch should be spoken in the streets, who helped force Ayaan Hirsi Ali into exile, and who wanted to send gay asylum seekers back to Iran.

The decision by the centre-right government comes days ahead of an election in which questions of immigration and nationality are likely to play a key role.

Update: the BBC page has now been modified, and a photo of two women wearing a full burqa – ie with the whole face covered, and a mesh over the eyes – is now showing in place of the original photo of a woman wearing a niqab. I’d be surprised, frankly, if anyone ever wears a burqa in Holland. According to Wikipedia, it’s “little seen outside Afghanistan”. Does Rita mean to ban the niqab? I think we should be told.