On 7 March 2021, a vote to ban face covering was accepted by 51.2% of Swiss voters. The proposal achieved majorities in 20 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons. Only in the cantons of Graubunden, a canton with a large tourism sector, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Bern, and the urban cantons of Basel-City, Geneva, Zurich did a majority of voters reject the ban […]
Swiss to vote on face covering ban
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to ban face coverings in public. Discussions on the ban are typically focused on the burka. However, the burka is a specific blue face and body covering found mainly in Afghanistan, which is not seen in Switzerland. The term burqa is sometimes conflated with niqab […]
Swiss-based imam approves of niqab ban
20 Minutes. According to 20 Minutes, Bern-based imam Mustafa Memeti approves of the Swiss parliament approving a plan to ban full veils across the nation. Others are still unsure. Yesterday, Switzerland’s National Council accepted, with 88 votes for and 87 votes against, to ban the wearing of burkas and niqabs nationwide. The imam’s comments and those from […]
Swiss parliament votes in favour of nationwide burka ban
Today, Switzerland’s parliament voted, by a slim majority, to accept the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) text banning the wearing of burkas across all of Switzerland. The text, accepted by 88 votes to 87, is the same as the text used for a similar ban in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, that went into force on 1 July […]
Swiss canton of Ticino passes law that bans burka
Le Matin. According to the Swiss newspaper Le Matin, from now on it is forbidden to cover your face in a public space in the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino. Following a successful popular vote to ban face covering in public in the canton in September 2013, the Canton’s government has now approved changes to […]
