Muslims Minority
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has criticized France’s ban on schoolgirls wearing abayas. It stated that the restriction on these long, flowing dresses was intended to “intimidate” the Muslim minority.
The commission, responsible for providing recommendations to the US government (though not setting policy itself), issued this statement.
Muslims minority: The US panel condemns abaya ban in France.
Abraham Cooper, the commission’s chair, characterized the abaya ban as a “misguided effort to promote the French value of laicite,” which is the country’s official secularism.
Cooper said, “France continues to employ a specific interpretation of secularism to target and intimidate religious groups, particularly Muslims. No government should utilize its authority to impose a specific religion on its population. It is condemnable to restrict the peaceful practice of individuals’ religious beliefs in the name of promoting secularism.”
French Education Minister Gabriel Attal said that schools would no longer permit girls to wear abayas from Sept 1.
In 2004, France had already banned school children from wearing “signs or outfits which show a religious affiliation”. It includes headscarves, turbans, and large crosses.
However, abayas had been in a gray area, with some women explaining that they wore them for cultural reasons.
Extreme-right French politicians have sought to widen restrictions.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has campaigned for the banning of wearing veils in the street.
The ban on the abaya was denounced in France by some Muslim leaders and by hard-left political leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who called it a move to fan divisions.
