EU: Parliament decides not to ban headscarves

This was in the news last week. I assumed it would make the rounds, but I didn't see it coming out in English.

In this case, the EP decided not to intervene in national laws.

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The European Parliament doesn't want Europe to ban girls in elementary schools or wearing a headscarf or veil. The rules differ in the 27 EU countries such that it's better not to impose compulsory European rules, according to a majority of the parliament.

France has very strict rules, for example, Great Britain doesn't. The headscarf debate is already emotional enough nationally, that it shouldn't be decided once and for all in Strasbourg, according to a satisfied Jules Maaten, European parlamentarian.

A report of the European parliament argued for a headscarf ban for elementary school children. The passage was voted out by a majority of the parliament.

Joost Lagendijk of GroenLinks supported the ban. "Women over eighteen can decide on their own and have a right to wear a headscarf. But girls in elementary school don't decide on their own." Lagendijk thinks headscarves and veils should be banned in elementary schools in the Netherlands.

Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)

1 comment:

Mark said...

Lagendijk is RIGHT, of course, since even in strict Islamic circles, nobody expects little girls to have to wear a headscarf.

This decision shows the ignorance of the people who rule us. Headscarves become mandatory ONLY upon reaching puberty. Elementary schoolgirls have not yet reached that stage.