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Dutch-speaking Belgium schools to ban religious headscarves

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Belgian school officials announced Friday that Muslim headscarves will be banned in about 700 schools in the Dutch-speaking northern region of Flanders. The move came after an administrative tribunal ruled Tuesday that individual schools could not impose a ban in response to complaints after two Antwerp schools banned headscarves at the beginning of the shcool year. The Flemish school board said that the regional ban will take effect immediately, but there will be a one-year grace period for schools that did not previously have a ban. There will also be an exception for religious classes. Religious headscarves have been banned in schools in several European countries. The Dutch government announced plans last September to ban burqas in schools. In 2004, France banned religious clothing and symbols in public schools. A German court has upheld a similar ban. In December, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously ruled that there was no human rights violation when a French school expelled two students in 1999 for refusing to remove their headscarves.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 11, 2009 (boomark / email).