Austrian police force women to uncover their faces as country’s ‘burqa ban’ comes into force

AUSTRIAN police have forced a Muslim woman to uncover her face as the country’s ‘burqa ban’ marks a rightward political turn.

A Muslim woman defying the rule was spotted being told to remove her veil in the town of Zell am See. Picture: AP.

A MUSLIM woman was forced to remove her veil as the ban on full-face veils came into force in Austria.

Items concealing the face in public places, such as the full Islamic veil, medical masks and scarfs to cover faces have been outlawed.

The Muslim woman defying the rule was spotted being told to remove her veil in the town of Zell am See.

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The Austrian law — called “Prohibition for the Covering of the Face” — forbids off-slope ski masks, surgical masks outside hospitals and party masks in public.

This illustration photo shows a model holding up an information pamphlet about new Austrian restrictions banning the wearing of burqas and other items covering the face in public places. Picture: AFP.

Violations carry a possible fine of nearly $230 and police are authorised to use force with people who resist showing their faces.

“It’s not right that those living here don’t show their faces,” said Emma Schwaiger, who expressed support for the ban in a straw poll on the streets of Vienna.

In a ruling announcing the ban, officials in Vienna said: “Acceptance and respect of Austrian values are basic conditions for successful cohabitation between the majority Austrian population and people from third countries living in Austria.”

Five in seven of those who said they backed the law also said they will vote for the two parties that critics link to anti-Muslim sentiment — the traditionally xenophobic Freedom Party and the People’s Party.

In this photo taken Sept. 27, 2017, Thomas Hofer, policy adviser, watches a computer screen during an interview with The Associated Press in Vienna, Austria. Picture: AP.

The People’s Party avoids the Freedom Party’s inflammatory talk, but has swung radically from the centre under new leader Sebastian Kurz to echo that party’s positions on migration.

The Social Democratic Party, currently the majority partner in the government coalition with the People’s Party, has been left struggling.

Under Chancellor Christian Kern, the Social Democrats are focusing on social topics and claiming credit for Austria’s recent economic upturn. But Kern’s message is not coming across well.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz. Picture: AFP.

A Unique Research poll of 1,500 respondents published last week showed the Social Democrats with 27 per cent support, ahead of the Freedom Party at 25 per cent but trailing the People’s Party with 34 per cent. The poll had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Carla Amina Bhagajati of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria said the “handful” of fully veiled women she knows of in Vienna “now are criminalised and ... restricted to their homes.”

In this photo taken Wednesday Sept. 27 2017, Carla Amina Baghajati from the Austrian Islamic Religious Community gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Vienna, Austria. Picture: AP.

“This open society is, in a hypocritical way, endangering its own values,” she said.

Originally published as Austrian police force women to uncover their faces as country’s ‘burqa ban’ comes into force