Southern Swiss canton bans face-veils

Rasa - The people of the southern Swiss canton of Ticino have voted to ban women from wearing full-face Islamic veils.

News ID: 444

Date: 25 September 2013 - 16:15

Rasa News Agency Reports – The people of the southern Swiss canton of Ticino have voted to ban women from wearing full-face Islamic veils. Muslim and human rights groups have strongly condemned the action.

Human rights advocates and state officials have accused Ticino of violating the basic rights of Muslims.

“This action is yet another loud expression of social Islamophobia,” said the Central Islamic Council of Switzerland in a statement. “We in the Council see this as part of a string of attempts to make life increasingly difficult for Muslims in Switzerland and to ban symbols of Islam from the public arena,” the Council added.

In this Italian speaking district, more than two-thirds of voters backed the bill proposed by campaigner Giorgio Ghiringhelli. This is the first time that such a ban has been passed in a Swiss canton.

The new measure still needs federal approval.

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