Burqa ban in the Netherlands from August

BRUSSELS, July 18 (KUNA) -- The so-called burqa ban comes into effect in the Netherlands on August 1, with EUR 150 (USD 168) fine for people caught wearing it in schools, on public transport, in hospitals and public buildings, Dutch media reported Thursday.
The ban requires public officials and public transport workers to ask people caught covering their faces to remove the burqa or leave the building, DutchNews.nl website reported today. If they refuse, the police will be brought in.
Dutch Senators voted last June in favour of the controversial proposals; 13 years after a burqa ban was first mooted in the country, it noted.
The Council of State, which is the Dutch government's most senior advisory body, had recommended against introducing a burqa ban, arguing that there are already sufficient provisions in law to require people to show their faces.
There are said to be about 150 women who wear a burqa or niqab on a daily basis in the Netherlands.
Critics say the effect of a ban will make it impossible for these women to go about their daily lives and enforcing the ban will be a waste of money, it said. (end) nk.hb