Voters in southern Switzerland have backed a ban on full-face veils, following similar laws implemented in France and Belgium. Activists argue that the law discriminates against the fundamental rights of Muslims.
The new measure still needs federal approval, after receiving two-thirds of public support in the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino. This is the first time that such a ban has been passed in a Swiss canton.
The creator of the proposal, Giorgio Ghiringhelli, argued that the ban is aimed at sending a message to “Islamist fundamentalists” in his district and all across the country.
“Those who want to integrate are welcome irrespective of their religion,” Ghiringhelli stated on the Il Guastafeste website. “But those who rebuff our values and aim to build a parallel society based on religious laws, and want to place it over our society, are not welcome.”
Human rights activists have heavily criticized the ban. Amnesty International called the vote a “black day for human rights in Ticino.”
Switzerland’s Central Islamic Council condemned the vote, saying that it is “yet another loud expression of social Islamophobia…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 said in a statement, RT informs.
