Switzerland votes to ban face covering in public

Swiss voters have approved a ban on full facial coverings including niqab and burqa in nearly all public places in a closely contested referendum on Sunday.

The result means facial covering will be banned in all publicly accessible places; including on the streets, in public offices, on public transport, in restaurants, shops, and in the countryside.

The controversial proposal gained the support of 51.21% of voters and the majority of the country’s 26 cantons, according to official provisional results published by the federal government.

The only exceptions include places of worship and other sacred sites. Face coverings will also be allowed if worn for health and safety reasons, because of the weather, and in situations where it is considered a “local custom” to do so, such as at carnivals; according to the text of the proposal published by the Swiss federal government.

There will be no additional exceptions, for example for tourists, the government document said.

“Today’s decision opens old wounds; further expands the principle of legal inequality, and sends a clear signal of exclusion to the Muslim minority,” the Central Council of Muslims said in a statement; adding that it would challenge the decision in court.

The new legislation was brought to the ballot through a people’s initiative launched by the nation’s right-wing Egerkingen Committee; the same group that led the charge to ban minarets over a decade ago; the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation reported. In 2017; the group presented over 100,000 signatures to the government and demanded the issue be brought to a national vote.

The Swiss Federal Council and the Swiss Parliament rejected the initiative as going too far and advised people to vote against it, according to government documents.

The two bodies have tabled a counter-proposal to the ban, which would require people to remove any face covering and show their faces to the police or other officials if necessary, for identification purposes.

It has also been criticized by a number of Swiss religious organizations and human rights and civic groups, as well as the federal government.

The Swiss Council of Religions; which represents all major religious communities in Switzerland; condemned the proposal earlier this year, stressing that the human right to religious freedom also protects religious practices such as dress codes.

Switzerland will join several European countries; that have implemented a ban on facial coverings, including France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria.