Summary: The highest court in France overturned the ban placed on burkinis in the town of Villeneruve-Loubet with the remainder of the bans likely to be removed soon.
The ban on burkinis has been overturned by France’s top administrative court. The ban placed on the Mediterranean beach resort of Villeneruve-Loubet drew attention to the divided country and tense relationship with Muslims. With the ban thrown out, now no towns can issue the ban on the swimsuits.
The Council of State specifically refers to the ban on the Muslim garment but it will apply to all roughly 30 French resort municipalities that issued their own bans after the initial ban surfaced.
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The ban grew world-wide attention when photos of women donning the garment were required to remove the modest covering on the French Riviera beaches. A human rights group and Muslim collective took the ban to the top court, arguing that the orders infringed on basic freedoms by dictating what women were allowed to wear on beaches.
Prime Minister Manual Valls supported the bans, meaning the issue is unlikely to go away. He urges the debate to continue, calling it “fundamental” for secular France, which unwelcomes religious displays in public. He said on his Facebook page that banning the burkini “in no way puts into question individual freedom” and is more about removing “fatal, retrograde Islamism.” He believes the burkini to be an “affirmation of political Islam in the public space.”
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Mayors of the different towns that had set in place a ban used reasons such as risk to public order, violating the country’s strict rules on secularism, and security after several Islamic extremist attacks. The high court replied, “The emotion and concerns arising from the terrorist attacks, notably the one perpetrated in Nice on July 14, cannot suffice to justify in law the contested prohibition measure.”
The ruling continued, “The contested decree has thus brought a serious and manifestly illegal infringement on basic freedoms such as freedom to come and go, freedom of conscience and personal freedom.”
Do you think the ban was fair considering the things that have happened lately in the French Riviera? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about the ban on burkinis, read France’s Burka Bikini Ban Under Scrutiny.
Photo: economicomensile.it