French Senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, the author of a report on Islamic radicalism in France, has claimed that certain areas of the country do not enforce the ban on Islamic face veils.
Ms Eustache-Brinio, a member of the centre-right Les Républicains (LR), said that despite figures showing fewer and fewer warnings and citations for wearing the burqa or niqab, the law is not being enforced in many neighbourhoods and suburban towns under the influence of Islamists.
Adopted a decade ago, the French full-face veil ban, brought into force by former conservative Prime Minister François Fillon under President Nicolas Sarkozy, sees those covering their face in public places subject to a fine of €150.
From April 2011 to March 2016, police carried out 1,726 checks, 1,644 fines, and 82 warnings for those caught wearing a full-face covering. The French Interior Ministry has claimed that the figures have decreased since the implementation of the law, and cited the trend as a success, La Croix reports.
The French veil ban sparked a wave of similar legislation in other European countries since 2010, including Austria, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands, but in recent years there have been legal challenges.
In 2018, a United Nations Human Rights Committee slammed France’s veil ban and claimed that it violated the rights of two women who had been fined for wearing the garment in public.
“The French law disproportionately harmed the petitioners’ right to manifest their religious beliefs,” the committee said.
According to a leaked report from the French internal security agency, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), at least 150 neighbourhoods across France are now “held” by Islamist radicals including the Paris no-go suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis and suburbs of other major cities.
French President Emmanuel Macron has made it clear in the past that he recognises the issues of ghettoisation and has made moves to close radical mosques and associations to stop the spread of radical Islam in France.