UK Mulls Banning Muslim Women From Wearing Face Veils

As the British government is set to announce a series of measures aimed at stop British Muslims becoming radicalized, Prime Minister David Cameron said Muslim women can be banned from wearing veils in schools, courts, and other British institutions.

Cameron said he will give his backing to public authorities which put in place “proper and sensible” rules to ban women from wearing face veils in comments which will reignite debates.

UK ministers are also to pledge to outlaw gender segregation during meetings in public buildings amid reports that some Muslim organizations are forcing women to sit separately, Homeland Security News Wire reports.

Schools will be required to inform councils when pupils stop attending without any explanation, and Muslim parents will be encouraged to carry out checks to ensure their children are not being radicalized.  A new Website will also be made accessible to help parents and teachers identify potential victims of radicalization. The Web site warns parents and teachers about “excessive time spent online or on mobile phones” as well as being wary of children with a “susceptibility to conspiracy theories and a feeling of persecution.”

Cameron has also announced that tens of thousands of Muslim women will face deportation unless they pass a series of English language tests after coming to Britain on spouse visas.

Though refusing  to endorse a full ban on wearing veils, Cameron has nonetheless made clear that individual organizations can choose to stop Muslim women wearing the veil. “I think in our country people should be free to wear what they like, within limits live how they like, and all the rest of it,” Cameron told BBC Radio 4. “Going for the more sort of French approach of banning an item of clothing, I don’t think that’s the way we do things in this country and I don’t think that would help.”

Source: iHLS