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BURQINI

French police ‘force woman to remove burqini’ on beach

Pictures have emerged showing armed police officers in southern France apparently forcing a woman to remove her burqini.

Published: 24 August 2016 11:16 CEST
French police 'force woman to remove burqini' on beach
A file photo of a woman in a burqini. Photo: AFP
The pictures show four police officers descending onto the beach in Nice that is below the Promenade des Anglais, where 85 people were killed in a terror attack last month. 
 
They approach a woman who appears to be relaxing in the sun, and then gather around her.
 
She can then be seen removing her long-sleeved top as one officer appears to be writing an infringement. 
 
The exact details behind the story remain unclear, but it seems the woman is the latest to have been stung with a €38 fine after over a dozen beaches in France banned the burqini. 
 
Social media users were quick to share the images online, with some pointing out that the woman's attire didn't even appear to be a burqini. 
 
“Is this what being liberal looks like? Men forcing women to take clothes off?” asked one. 
The news comes just one day after a French woman reported that she was told to pay a fine or leave a Cannes beach for wearing a headscarf. 
 
The woman, originally from Toulouse, was wearing leggings, a tunic and her hijab – a headscarf covering her hair – while at La Bocca beach with her family.
 
“I wasn't there to provoke anyone,” said the woman. 
 
Journalists at the scene said that a pack gathered around the woman and “used racist terms freely”, saying thins like 'Go home!' and 'we're Catholics here!'”
 
Siam said the incident left her feeling “humiliated” and that she felt she was fined simply for being a Muslim.
 

BURKINI

French mayor reignites burkini row after banning Muslim swimwear at leisure park

A notorious French mayor has kicked up a storm after introducing a burkini and Muslim veil ban at a new swimming spot in his town, despite the fact the bans were ruled illegal last year.

Published: 28 June 2017 12:23 CEST
French mayor reignites burkini row after banning Muslim swimwear at leisure park
File photo: W/Flickr

A year after several resorts on the French Riviera made global headlines and prompted criticism from around the world for imposing burkini bans on Muslim bathers, a French mayor risks inflaming the row once again.

Gerard Tardy, the mayor of Lorette, a town to the south of Lyon in Central France, has imposed a ban on burkinis – the full-body swimwear worn by some Muslim women and the wearing of headscarves at a new outdoor swimming area.

The leisure park was opened on June 23rd and includes two man-made swimming areas and a beach the public must pay to access.

But the new rules laid down in a Town Hall decree have sparked controversy.

Article 4 of the decree says users must “have decent attire and a correct attitude.”

It also includes the line: “On the beach monokinis, burkinis, veils that partially or totally conceal the face are banned.”

A sign has also been erected at the beach with symbols that show everything that is forbidden. As well as the Muslim headscarf, the Town Hall has also banned dogs, drinking alcohol and football.

Users are warned that anyone who ignores these rules will be immediately expelled from the beach by the security teams or police.

It remains to be seen how French authorities will react to the ban.

In the summer of 2016 France’s highest administrative court the State Council (Conseil d’Etat) set a precedent when it overturned a ban on the burkini swimsuit brought in by the town of Villeneuve-Loubet.

It called the bans that had been introduced by around 30 coastal towns, mainly in the south of the country “a serious and illegal attack on fundamental freedoms”.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) hailed the ruling as “a victory for common sense”.

Amnesty International also welcomed the court’s ruling saying it had “drawn an important line in the sand” by overturning “a discriminatory ban” that was “fueled by prejudice and intolerance”.

Reacting to the Lorette's burkini ban, Aldo Oumouden, the spokesman for the Grande Mosque in the nearby city of Saint Etienne said: “Wanting to ban the veil in this swimming area is an attack on the individual freedom of Muslims.”

“The mayor does not realize that this decision will further increase stigma. It is not only unnecessary but also devastating for community harmony.”

There has also been criticism of the mayor on social media channels, where many were shocked by the fact women wearing Muslim veils are subject to the same beach ban as dogs are.

But the mayor of Lorette has history when it comes to antagonizing his local Muslim population.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last year he put up messages on the town’s electronic billboards asking Muslims to celebrate Ramadan “without making any noise”.

“The mayor needs to wake up, France is multi-cultural,” said Oumouden.

The mayor has yet to respond to media requests to explain his ban.