A burka conflicts with good manners, like public nudity, says minister

Just as the people are not allowed to walk around the streets naked, wearing an all-encompassing burka is also against Dutch norms and manners, home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner said during a parliamentary debate on integration on Wednesday.


The government’s plan to introduce a ban on the burka is not so much about public safety as about the fact ‘in our society, you should be able to see each other’, the minister is quoted as saying by the Telegraaf.
National anthem
The cabinet, supported by its anti-Islam alliance partner PVV, is planning to shake up the current rules surrounding the integration of foreigners, and a ban on the burka is part of that.
The new policy will remove targets and make immigrants responsible for their own integration. ‘When I was at school, there was much greater segregation – between Catholics and Protestants,’ Donner said. But that is now over, he pointed out.
The minister also told MPs that knowledge of the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, will be included in integration courses for new immigrants from July 1.
Earlier stories
Multiculturalism must go: Donner
Wide support for new integration policy
Loosen up on integration, says social development council

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