Train delayed after woman in niqab ‘refused to show her face’ to inspectors

A train departure was delayed for 20 minutes in Rotterdam station on Monday after a woman wearing a niqab reportedly refused to show her face to ticket inspectors so they could check she was using the right public transport smart card.

The police were called after ticket inspectors claimed the woman refused to prove who she was, although she denies in a Facebook post having been asked to do so.

‘The conductor did not ask for my ticket or for me to prove my identity,’ the woman, who is 19, said.

After some dispute, the woman says she agreed to show her face to the male police officers and she was allowed to continue her journey. ‘There was no other option for me at that moment,’ she said on Facebook.

The woman was not fined – it is at the discretion of the police whether or not to do so.

The Netherlands introduced a so-called burqa ban on August 1 which applies to government buildings, schools and colleges, hospitals and public transport.

There have only been a couple of reported instances since the ban was introduced. In one case, a woman in Limburg was ordered off a bus. In another,  Nijmegen city council was forced to apologise to a woman wearing a niqab who was ordered to leave a children’s playground by workers.