Greek state ponders law on burqas

At the core of the government's argument, as is evident from the minister's public statements, is not the "extent" of the phenomenon in Greece, but its dimension as a rights issue, with an emphasis on possible coercion.

As protothema.gr is informed, this is not an issue that caught the Government by surprise, on the contrary, since preparatory actions have already been taken in order for the leadership of the Ministry, as well as the Government, to "measure" the issue both at the level of public opinion and in its real dimensions.

As Mr. Plevris said in Parliament, the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Sevi Voloudaki, has conducted relevant research in the accommodation structures that fall under the responsibility of the ministry, relevant discussions have been held with women who wear the burqa and some critical conclusions have already been drawn.

Summing up the situation, in quantitative terms, these cases are few, which is why the issue of the burqa had not been raised in public opinion until now. In terms of qualitative characteristics, however, the situation seems obvious.

Several cases of women and underage girls - of those who wear the burqa - are reported to have stated in these discussions that they are pressured by their environment to fully cover their features, for fear of being targeted by men from the same community.

The two scenarios

With the situation having become somewhat clearer, the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum is already working on two scenarios, while according to information provided by protothema.gr, the Prime Minister is also aware of them, who is monitoring the case, without, however, having been given the "green light" for any of them.

In the event that the matter proceeds from the leadership of the Ministry, in the first scenario, the ban will strictly concern only structures that fall under the Ministry's jurisdiction as well as schools and in any case only minors.

In the second scenario, the framework will be broader and will concern every public service and the aforementioned spaces, but will again be strictly limited to minors.

The reasoning behind both scenarios has to do with the issue of free will: to what extent can a child be considered to choose to cover all of their facial features without pressure, especially when the vast majority of their peers do not do so.

“Girls who will have the freedom to wear whatever they want and will not be limited to covering their features will integrate more smoothly into the social fabric,” a senior source at the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum tells protothema.gr.

Headscarves, Thrace’s minority and rights

An important element in the case is the distinction between full face coverage (like a burqa/nikab) and a headscarf that leaves the face visible. The minister has explicitly stated that “the discussion is not about the headscarf,” but about the complete concealment of facial features.

This separation has particular political and social significance in Greece, where the State institutionally refers to the "Muslim minority in Thrace" as a religious minority, within the framework of international obligations associated with the Treaty of Lausanne.