German town’s burqini ban prompts renewed debate about Islamophobia
Burqinis are loose wetsuits with hoods, mostly worn by Muslim women who want to cover up while swimming.
Town officials in Neutraubling, in southeastern Germany, have banned the burqini from a public pool after a woman wore one to a women’s-only swim day.
Burqinis are like loose wetsuits with hoods, worn mostly by Muslim women who want to cover up while swimming.
“Why the burqini as a full-body suit would be necessary to wear during a women’s swim day is for me incomprehensible,” town Mayor Heinz Kiechle said last week, as reported by the Local, a European news site. “This also contradicts the fundamental ideas of integration and mutual understanding, which is always being discussed in many towns.”
Towns can set regulations on swim attire, but some Germans are calling for the rule to be changed, citing laws that protect religious freedom as a fundamental right.
“We see this case not only as a clear violation of fundamental rights, but also as a blow to humanity and tolerance,” the Green Youth party said in a letter calling for an end to the ban, the Local reported on Thursday.