Keypoints:
- The proposal for Burqa ban was put forward by right wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), it campaigned with slogans such as “Stop extremism”.
- 51.21 per cent of voters voted in support of the controversial proposal in the referendum.
- Facial coverings will be banned in all publicly accessible places, including on the streets, in public offices, on public transport, in restaurants, shops and in the countryside.
On Sunday, Switzerland votes in favour of banning full facial coverings including burqa and niqab almost in all public places including streets, offices,transports,etc. Full facial coverings will only be allowed in places of worship and other sacred sites. Apart from this, it will be allowed for health and safety reasons and also in situations where it is “local custom” such as carnivals.
The proposal for Burqa ban was out forward by many groups including the right-wing Swiss People’s Party which did not specifically mention Islam but has been widely referred to as the “burqa ban” in Swiss media. This proposal has been highly criticised especially by the Swiss religious organizations, human rights and civic groups and the federal government.
“Today’s decision opens old wounds, further expands the principle of legal inequality, and sends a clear signal of exclusion to the Muslim minority,” the Central Council of Muslims said in a statement, adding that it would challenge the decision in court.
According to research by the University of Lucerne (in German) , almost no-one in Switzerland wears a burka and only around 30 women wear the niqab. About 5% of Switzerland’s population of 8.6 million people are Muslim, most originating from Turkey, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Sanija Ameti, a member of Switzerland’s Muslim community, told that the campaign – and the depiction of Muslim women in the posters – had been upsetting.
“So many Muslims in Switzerland will feel insulted and not part of this society, and pushed into a corner where they don’t belong. We don’t look like these women in the pictures, we just don’t,” she said.
Ahead of the vote, Walter Wobmann, chairman of the referendum committee and an SVP lawmaker, described Muslim face coverings as “a symbol for this extreme, political Islam which has become increasingly prominent in Europe and which has no place in Switzerland”.
“In Switzerland our tradition is that you show your face. That is a sign of our basic freedoms,” he said.
