CDU women’s union calls for burqa ban in Germany

According to media reports, the Women’s Union within the conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) party, which heads Germany’s current federal government, is calling for a ban on full face coverings in public.

If implemented, this would effectively ban face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women for religious or cultural reasons.

The CDU women’s union wrote, “We are committed to a general ban on veiling in public spaces,” adding that this would apply to “all clothing that completely or largely covers the face…[including specifically] the burqa, niqab and comparable face coverings”.

A corresponding motion has been submitted for the CDU federal party conference at the end of February, according to a report by Bild.

The CDU women’s union suggests that the ban on veiling (Verhüllungsverbot) would send a “clear signal for the self-determination of women and against any form of forced veiling”. The women’s union suggests that the permanent concealment of women’s faces prevents integration.

The group also suggests that making faces visible in public is a security issue: “The identifiability of people in public spaces is crucial for preventing danger, police work and the functioning of state institutions.”

The CDU party can be expected to discuss the proposal at their party conference, and decide whether or not to bring it forward as a proposed draft law.

If the CDU decides to move forward on the issue, a proposal would then need to be approved by the federal cabinet as well as the Bundestag and Bundesrat before it could be signed into law.

Similar bans on face coverings have been introduced in neighbouring European countries, including France, Belgium, Denmark and Austria.

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They have also been approved by national courts in those countries as well as by the European Court of Human Rights, suggesting that if the ban were established in Germany it would likely stand.