Dutch 'burqa ban' rendered largely unworkable on first day

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Dutch 'burqa ban' rendered largely unworkable on first day

Police and transport companies have signalled unwillingness to enforce face covering ban

Daniel Boffey in Brussels
Thu 1 Aug 2019 10.30 BST Last modified on Thu 1 Aug 2019 13.21 BST

The Netherlands’ so-called burqa ban has been rendered largely unworkable on its first day in law after both the police and Dutch transport companies signalled an unwillingness to enforce it.

Under the terms of the Partial Ban on Face-Covering Clothing Act, the wearing of ski masks, full-face helmets, balaclavas, niqabs and burqas is prohibited in public buildings including schools and hospitals and on public transport.

Wearers of the banned clothing are to be given the option to remove the offending item or face a police fine of between €150 and €415. There is no prohibition on wearing such garments in the street.

But the law appears to have been fatally undermined after police said its enforcement was not a priority and signalled their discomfort with the idea that veiled women could be put off from entering a police station to make unrelated complaints.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/01/dutch-police-signal-unwillingness-enforce-new-burqa-ban

[Farmer-Rick]

1. I can't imagine in a democracy going up to women to get them to remove a piece of clothing

It's like the fashion police we feared as school kids. I remember my sister having to call Mom because she showed up to school one day wearing pants and the school kicked her out for it. A year later they relented and allowed girls to wear slacks and low and behold 6 months goes by and girls are allowed to wear jeans to school.

I think the burqa is very stupid so are the silly garments Orthodox Jews, Mennonites and Amish women wear but I don't think we should stop them from dressing strangely. It's their right to dress any way they want.

[trotsky]

2. The issue of a full face covering is a tricky one.

Taking the religious aspects completely out of this, and just considering the case of "ski masks" or "full-face helmets."

Is everyone cool with someone wearing a full motorcycle helmet with tinted visor and walking into a bank to do business?

[NeoGreen]

8. I can see a future where bank ATMs will fail to operate if...

...the facial recognition software in the camera doesn't register a human face (i.e. motor cycle helmet, ski mask or air filter mask).

[trotsky]

9. OMG RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

[NeoGreen]

10. Oh yeah, that would be the...

...predictable response.

[FakeNoose]

3. Agreed. But what if it's really a terrorist under the burqa?

What if the terrorist is carrying a bomb or a weapon?

[trotsky]

4. What if it's a white Christian male gun nut under there? n/t

[FakeNoose]

5. Thanks, you proved my point

[trotsky]

7. Exactly.

Rather than reflexively screaming "RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION" whenever this topic comes up, I wish a serious discussion could be had noting that we already prohibit non-religious face coverings in many situations.

But no, "RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION" OMGWTFLOLBBQDAWKINS

[Cartoonist]

6. I went to a bank one day

They had a sign telling me to remove my sunglasses.

My sunglasses are prescription. I'm also an old man who needs UV protection for my eyes.

I took them off even though I had legitimate scientific reasons to keep them on.