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| On the 7th (local time), a bill banning the burka is scheduled to be put in a referendum in Switzerland, and both supporters and opponents are campaigning. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Won Tae-sung |
The Swiss citizens eventually approved a law banning the wearing of burka (a full-body coat with mesh only the eyes) and nicap (a mask covering the entire face under the eyes) in public places.
According to the AFP news agency on the 7th (local time), the bill, which caused controversy over sexism and racial discrimination, managed to pass with 51.21% of the votes in favor of the referendum held on that day. 1,266,992 voters voted for the bill, 1,359,621 opposed the bill, with a 50.8% turnout.
As a result, people should not cover their faces in all public places except for some places of worship. Failure to do so will result in fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs (about 12 million won).
The so-called’anti-Burkha law ballot’ came after years of debate amid similar bans in force in other European countries such as France, Belgium, Austria and Estonia.
There was no direct mention of burka and nikab in the bill. However, in the campaign poster of the side in favor of this, a woman in a black nicap appeared and an inciting phrase “Stop radical Islam” was overlaid.
Opponents of the bill confronted it, saying, “I oppose the’anti-Burkha Law’, which is absurd, useless, and hates Islam,” but it was not enough to stop the anti-Islamic wave.
“A vote in favor could create an xenophobic and racist atmosphere for Muslim women,” said Merriam Mastor of the Purple Head Scarve feminist group.
“Few women in Switzerland wear burka,” he added. “Burkha wearers tend to be converts and tourists.”
On the other hand, Mohamed Hamdawi, a member of the local parliament of Bern Canton, the founder of the anti-burka movement, said, “This is an opportunity to tell the country to stop Islamism.”
According to a 2019 Federal Bureau of Statistics survey, 5.5% of Switzerland’s population is Muslim. It is primarily rooted in the former Yugoslavia.
However, there is a strong movement in Switzerland to stop the spread of Islam. In 2009, there was controversy over a bill banning the construction of a minaret (a minaret in an Islamic chapel mosque) in a mosque.