The Bundestag, lower house of the German Parliament, has agreed to draft a law on Thursday that will prohibit government officers, soldiers and judges in Germany from wearing full face covering burqas to work.
This was initiated after the Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a full face veil ban in December ”wherever legally possible.” Ahead of the federal election, which is five months away, conservatives have lost support for the anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany (AfD,) after the migrant crisis in the Country. Over the last two years, million migrants entered Germany, mostly Muslims from the Middle East. This has created concerns about ethnic integrity in Germany.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, “Integration also means that we should make clear and impart our values and where the boundaries of our tolerance towards other cultures lie. The draft law we have agreed on makes an important contribution to that.”
Bavaria, in February, which is ruled by Christian Social Union (CSU,) which is a sister party to Chancellor Merkel’s conservatives, declared that they would ban veils in schools, universities and government workplaces including polling stations.
