Muslim woman denied access to Ligne d'Azur bus

The niqab covers the face and sometimes the hands and is worn by 2000 Muslim women out of the 5 million that reside in France. © Rana Ossama

Stephanie’s mother was already inside the bus and urged the driver to allow her daughter on board but her efforts were in vain and the bus left without her. Police arrived at the scene shorty after the incident to ensure that tensions did not escalate. Lignes d’Azur has not commented on the incident.

Stephanie said she has worn the niqab—a veil that may not cover the eyes—for the past seventeen years. The conflict yesterday came about as a result of a new French law passed in October, making it illegal for women to fully cover their faces in public. Those who do not comply can be fined 150 euros or have their French citizenship rights restricted.

The law particularly targets those Muslim women who wear burqas and niqabs. However, at the moment, it remains in the early stages of its implementation and over the last few months it has been both avidly supported and opposed. President Nicholas Sarkozy, who proposed the law two years ago, has said that the legislation is not meant to attack Muslim women but rather maintain the strict separation between church and state on which France prides itself.

Whilst the French government claims that this restriction on public dress decreases the alienation that the garments promote, Muslim women in France and abroad argue that such a measure limits their freedom of religious expression. These women also often emphasis that that they wear the burqa out of their own volition, not because they are forced.

Nathalie Miraval