Italy: Meloni Proposes Burka Ban

The burka is a full-body garment that covers a woman from head to foot, including a mesh screen over the eyes. The niqab is a veil for the face that leaves the area around the eyes clear.

Some regions of Italy already impose restrictions, such as northern Lombardy, which imposed a ban on entering public buildings and hospitals with covered faces in late 2015.

Meloni’s coalition partner, the League, presented more limited legislation focusing on face coverings earlier this year. It is currently under review in a parliamentary commission. Whether it would merge with this new bill was unclear.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Meloni said that she and two of her ministers had been reported to the International Criminal Court for alleged complicity in genocide in connection with Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Italy has seen a string of demonstrations over the past week, bringing hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets to protest against the mass killings in Gaza, with many criticising the prime minister.

France was the first European country to introduce a blanket nationwide ban on wearing burkas in public in 2011.

Since then more than 20 states have some form of the ban on the burka and other full-face coverings in public, including Austria, Denmark, Tunisia, Belgium, Turkey, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The European Court of Human Rights has consistently upheld these bans, including in 2017, when it upheld Belgium’s ban, ruling that states may restrict such garments to protect “living together” in society.

In June, Sir Keir Starmer rejected calls from a Reform UK MP for a burka ban in Britain. Reform leader Nigel Farage later said the burka was “anti-British” and called for a national debate on the issue.