Posted on 07/23/2015 3:48:38 AM PDT by markomalley
Police in the French Alps have been forced to hand out notices to tourists wearing the full face veil, many of whom have come for a day trip from Switzerland, to remind them that France has a total burka ban in public.
The picturesque town of Annecy, in south eastern France, is described in tourist brochures as the Venice of the Alps, and it draws in tourists from all over the Alps region, especially from Switzerland.
However, locals in the idyllic tourist hotspot complained to authorities last summer that some of these tourists were wearing full face veils - known as burkas or Niqab - which are legal in Switzerland but were controversially banned from all public places in France in 2011.
Annecy police have now taken action to let tourists know that they are breaking the law with their religious headwear, handing out flyers in both English and French to those seen wearing veils in an effort to alert them to the fact that they are in breach of the French law.
While burka-clad people face a €150 ($165) fine, police are yet to hand out anything more than a reminder, reported Swiss newspaper Le Temps.
Police commissioner Alain Favre said that the move was focused on public safety.
"This isn't a question of stigmatizing or 'burqa hunting', rather about informing people that French law prohibits people from concealing their faces for reasons of safety. We have to be able to identify any one person," he told the paper.
Officers have been advised not to give out fines, rather to discuss the matter with the tourists and to ask them to show their face privately.
Since its inception in 2011, the so-called burqa ban increased tensions with France's Muslim community, which at an estimated five million is western Europe's largest Muslim minority.
Many Muslims view France, which is officially a secular republic despite being overwhelmingly Catholic, as imposing its values on them and other religious minorities.
The ban was introduced under former president Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right government but has been fully backed by President Francois Hollande's ruling Socialists.
warning first sounds OK ... refusal or a second time requires .... demands ... some kind of hurt .... fine, deportation ... something
“The picturesque town of Annecy”
Actually I stumbled into that town once, long ago. It was beautiful (probably still is), and I certainly no fan of France.
Nice to see they have a problem with women wearing spacesuits.
I hate those stupid burqas. I try to tell those women they don’t have to wear that get up here in America.
They hate the West.
Why are they here ?
And you have a good reason too. Burqas are an attack on Liberty! It is an attack and insult to see burqas in Western society and should not be tolerated.
bfl
But how else could they use their cell phones without the burka? It’s tiresome to use one’s hand to hold the phone while talking loudly on it. So much easier to tuck it in the head covering while walking s-l-o-w-l-y through the store or across the street.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.