Burqa ban bill approved by Portugal’s parliament seen as targeting Muslim women | Portugal

Portugal’s parliament has approved a bill banning the wearing of veils in public for “gender or religious” reasons, in a move seen as targeting Muslim women who wear face masks.

The measure was proposed by the far-right Chega party and would ban veils such as burqas (a full-body garment that covers a woman from head to toe) and niqabs (an Islamic veil that covers the entire face with space around the eyes) from being worn in most public places. The wearing of veils will still be allowed on airplanes, in diplomatic buildings and places of worship.

The bill imposes fines ranging from 200 euros to 4,000 euros (£175 to £3,475) for those wearing veils in public.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa still must approve the bill. He can veto it or send it to the constitutional court for review.

If the law comes into force, Portugal will join a number of European countries that have imposed full or partial bans on face coverings and headscarves, including Austria, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Many women in Portugal do not wear such veils, but the issue of the Islamic veil causes controversy, as in other European countries.

Chega touched upon the reasons why France and other EU countries banned face masks commonly used by Muslim women. The party received support for the bill from centre-right parties.

In his bill, Chega said face covering exposes individuals, especially women, to “conditions of exclusion and inferiority” and is incompatible with principles such as “freedom, equality and human dignity”.

MPs from left-leaning parties opposed this view.

“This initiative is only used to target foreigners with different beliefs,” said Pedro Delgado Alves, a lawmaker from the center-left Socialist party whose party voted against the bill.

He said that no woman should be forced to wear the veil, but that the far-right party’s approach was wrong.