Dutch ban face veil and burqa as security measure

THE Dutch government agreed yesterday a total ban on the wearing of burqas and other Muslim face veils in public, justifying the move on security grounds.

Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister, will draw up legislation which will result in the Netherlands, once one of Europe's most easy-going nations, imposing some of the continent's toughest laws against concealing the face.

The move by the centre-right government comes only five days before a general election. Legislation already limits the wearing of burqas on public transport or in schools.

Dutch Muslim groups complain that a burqa ban would make the country's one million Muslims feel more victimised.

"What the government is doing now is totally disproportionate to the number of women who actually wear the burqa," Ayhan Tonca, the chairman of an umbrella group of Dutch Muslim organisations, said.