Is a ‘burka ban’ really necessary in Switzerland?

Several European countries have banned in public places the wearing of veils or any kind of clothing that hides the face. Now supporters of a people’s initiative want to do the same throughout Switzerland. Two parliamentarians debate the issue. The initiative, supported by a group of mostly conservative right Swiss People’s Party politicians and activists, was presented at a news conference in Bern on Tuesday. The committee was behind the ban on building new minarets, which was passed in a nationwide vote in 2009. Walter Wobmann, a parliamentarian for the People’s Party and a member of the initiative committee, says Switzerland is threatened by an Islamicisation. He wants a ban on people covering or hiding their faces in public – whether for criminal or religious reasons - to be written into the federal constitution. Their text was inspired by a similar initiative passed by 58% of Ticino citizens in 2013 banning people from covering or hiding their faces in public.