German Conservatives back partial ban on face veils

Security officials from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc proposed a ban on wearing the burqa and other face-covering veils in public schools, courts, while driving and in other situations. Full-face coverings worn by some Muslim women are “not part of our open society” and officials “urge everyone to show their faces,” Interior Minister Thomas […]

Security officials from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc proposed a ban on wearing the burqa and other face-covering veils in public schools, courts, while driving and in other situations.
Full-face coverings worn by some Muslim women are “not part of our open society” and officials “urge everyone to show their faces,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after meeting his state counterparts from Merkel’s conservative Union bloc.
But he acknowledged constitutional problems with a blanket burqa ban and said the proposal seeks only to prohibit face coverings “where showing the face has a function.”