ALBAWABA - Austria's parliament has passed a controversial law that makes it illegal for girls under 14 to wear the Islamic headscarf in schools. Rights groups say this unfairly targets Muslim communities and makes social divisions worse.
The law was passed on Thursday with support from all parties except the Green Party, which said it is unconstitutional and unfair. For the same reasons, the country's Constitutional Court threw out a similar ban on headscarves in primary schools in 2019.
Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said that the new ban, which covers all types of headscarves worn according to Islamic tradition, will go into effect across the country in September, at the start of the next school year. She said that the headscarf is "oppression, not a religious practice."
The far-right Freedom Party in Austria said that the law doesn't go far enough. They want a wider ban that would apply to teachers, school staff, and students.
Human rights groups were very critical of the law. Angelika Aichinger, a women's rights activist, said that the law sends a message that decisions about girls' bodies can be made by people in power. Amnesty International called it "a blatant act of discrimination against Muslim girls."
SOS Mitmensch, a group that fights racism, also didn't like the law because they thought it showed institutional bias.
The Islamic Community in Austria promised to fight the ban in the Constitutional Court, saying that it violates basic freedoms and the rights of children who want to wear the headscarf because of their faith.
In February, a trial phase that doesn't involve punishment will start to explain the new rules to teachers and families. But if parents keep breaking the rules, they will have to pay fines of between €150 and €800 ($175–$940). Officials think that about 12,000 girls could be affected.
