GENEVA (AP) – At a time when apparently everyone in Europe is wearing masks to fight COVID-19, the Swiss are going to the polls on Sunday to vote on a long proposal to ban facial coverings, both niqabs and women. burqas worn by some Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandanas worn by the protesters.
The issue strikes the intersection of religious freedom, security, economics and women’s rights.
Critics say the proposal “Yes to the ban on covering the face” is an ironic setback to a time not long ago, when violent extremism was a greater concern than the global pandemic, and say it would unfairly stigmatize Muslims who use burkas covering the face or niqabs, which have open slits for the eyes, in Switzerland.
Proponents, including right-wing populist movements behind the idea, say it is necessary to fight what they see as a sign of women’s oppression and defend a basic principle that faces should be shown in a free society like that of rich Alpine democracy.
The issue is one of three measures on national ballots in the vote that culminated on Sunday – most voters in Switzerland voted by mail – as part of the latest edition of the regular Swiss referendums that give voters a direct say in policymaking.
Other proposals would create an “e-ID” to improve the security of online transactions – an idea that clashed with privacy advocates – and a free trade agreement with Indonesia, which is contested by environmentalists who care about plantations of palm oil in the archipelago in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The facial coverage measure became known colloquially as the “burqa ban”. It would put Switzerland in line with countries like Belgium and France, which have already adopted similar measures. Two Swiss regions also already have this type of ban.
A campaign poster presented by the Swiss People’s Party – a right-wing populist party that is the main faction in parliament and strongly supported the measure – features a caricatured image of the scowling eyes of a woman in a burqa above the words: “Stop radicalism Islamic. “
A coalition of left-wing parties put up signs that read, “Absurd. Useless. Islamophobic. “
Support appears to be waning, but the vote must be tight. An initial poll for the public broadcaster SSR by the gfs.bern agency in January revealed that more than half of voters supported the proposal, but a second poll published on February 24 showed that the numbers dropped to less than half. Some remain undecided.
The Swiss government is opposed to the measure, arguing that it can hamper economic development: most Muslim women wearing these veils in Switzerland are visitors from wealthy Persian Gulf countries, who are often drawn to bucolic Swiss lakeside towns. . The justice minister insists that existing laws work well.
The move would make it punishable by fines to cover the face in places like restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking on the street – although exceptions are made for religious, safety and health reasons, as well as for the traditional Swiss Carnival celebrations.
A counter-proposal would require people to show their faces, if requested by the authorities.
It is another indication of how Switzerland is struggling with issues of security, cultures and people from abroad. Swiss voters have in the past approved a ban on the construction of minarets in the Alpine country, whose flag bears the cross.
Andreas Tunger-Zanetti, a researcher who directs the Center for Religious Studies at the University of Lucerne, estimates that at most a few dozen Muslim women use facial coverings in a country of 8.5 million people and says the question is really about opinion from Switzerland on religion and the ability to “deal with diversity”.