Banning the burka is an accelerating trend

The Danish Parliament has voted, by an overwhelming vote of 75 to 30, to ban the Islamic burka (which covers the entire face) and the niqab (which covers the entire face except for the eyes). From 1 August, those caught flouting this law will be fined 1,000 Danish kroner (just under $AU200) while repeat offenders could be fined up to 10,000 kroner (just under $AU2,000) while anybody found to be requiring a person through force or threats could be fined or face up to two years in jail.

Demark is the seventh country in Europe to enact such a ban after France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria and Latvia. Bavaria in Germany, Catalonia in Spain, Lombardy in Italy, Stavropol in Russia and Ticino in Switzerland have regional bans while Norway has introduced a ban on wearing the veils in public schools.

Even Germany, seen to be the most tolerant of European countries to the influx of millions of Muslims has banned driving while wearing a face covering while there is a prohibition on anyone in the civil service, military or working as an electoral officer from covering their faces. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has supported this legislation saying in 2016, "From my standpoint, a fully veiled woman scarcely has a chance of full integration in Germany."

The Danish ban was first proposed by the Danish People's Party (DPP) in 2009 and a leading DPP MP, Martin Henriksen said after the vote, "Now that the ban has been approved, Parliament should, in the opinion of the Danish People's Party, continue to work on additional measures against the Islamisation of Denmark."

The Danish Justice Minister Soren Pape Poulsen commented, "To keep one's face hidden when meeting each other in public places is incompatible with the values in Danish society and disrespectful to the community. With a ban on covering the face we are drawing a line in the sand and underlining that in Denmark we show each other trust and respect by meeting face to face."

While Amnesty International described the law as a "discriminatory violation of women's rights", the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – perhaps surprisingly for some – has twice ruled that burka bans are legal.

In July 2017, the ECHR dismissed a protest against the Belgian ban on wearing the burka in public spaces saying that the Belgian Government had been responding "to a practice that is considered to be incompatible, in Belgian society, with social communication and more generally the establishment of human relations, which were indispensable for life in society … essential to ensure the functioning of a democratic society."

In July 2014, a French citizen of Pakistani origin challenged the French burka ban but lost when the ECHR accepted the French Government's argument that the ban encouraged citizens to "live together".

France became the first European country to ban Islamic veils in public in October, 2010 with the then Prime Minister Francois Fillon saying that the ban was aimed at "solemnly reaffirming the values of the republic" and that "concealing the face … places the people involved in a position of exclusion and inferiority incompatible with the principles of liberty, equality and human dignity affirmed by the French Republic." The then French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka was "a new form of enslavement that will not be welcome in the French Republic."

In Canada, the French-speaking province of Quebec has barred people with face coverings from receiving public services or from working in government jobs meaning that it is illegal for them to ride on a public bus or railway, work as a doctor or teacher or receive publicly-funded health care while their faces are covered. China also has a ban in an area with a high Muslim population.

Banning the burka and the niqab are often – but deeply wrongly – seen as a manifestation of so-called Islamophobia in western countries. So, of course, if this reasoning is to be believed it follows that nations with a significant Muslim minority certainly wouldn't impose any ban be that refusal on the grounds of religious freedom, civil rights or political reality or all three. And, naturally, this reasoning would conclude that majority Muslim nations wouldn't have a bar of any such ban. They would see any ban as deeply insulting, provocative and unnecessary, wouldn't they?

Well, not all actually.

In May, 2016, The Telegraph (UK) published a revealing article headed "Why West Africa's Muslim-majority states are banning the burqa".

It cited a summit in December 2015 of all fifteen members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which formally endorsed a ban on "clothing that prevents the clear identification of persons". That means that fifteen countries with a total Muslim population in excess of 181 million are pledged to supporting a ban on the burka and niqab.

This drastic action was in response to the brutal ravages of the blood-stained Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

Chad, which has about a 55% majority Muslim population, banned the full-face veil in June, 2015 following suicide bomb attacks in the capital that killed dozens of people. Their Prime Minister described the veil as "camouflage" for terrorists.

Senegal, which is 95% Muslim, enforced the ban in November, 2015 citing national security concerns. Niger, 80% Muslim, was next to impose a ban in its southern regions bordering on Boko Haram's main killing ground in Nigeria while Cameroon also imposed a ban in the country's region with a majority Muslim population.

As The Telegraph noted, "In total, these three countries (Senegal, Niger and Cameroon) are home to 36 million Muslims. Yet there was scarcely any public opposition to the ban and the prohibition has largely been observed and enforced, at least in urban areas where the security forces are present."

Morocco, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean in northern Africa recognises the Sunni Islam faith as its official state religion and the country is virtually one hundred per cent Islamist yet in January, 2917, authorities announced a total ban on the sale, production and importation of the face veils and gave retailers only forty-eight hours to destroy their stocks of the garments. Again, according to the government, this was inspired by "security concerns".

In Australia, the only public opinion poll to test whether or not full face veils should be banned scored a big 57% in favour in August, 2017, 31% against and 12% undecided in a total of 2,832 people polled by Sky News/ReachTEL but the government has firmly resisted any moves to ban the burka and niqab.

The first attempt at trying to secure a ban was as far back as 2002 following the Moscow theatre hostage crisis when NSW MP Fred Nile asked the then State Police Minister if a ban would be introduced for full-body coverings similar to those worn by the Chechen Muslim terrorists. The answer was a very firm no. He unsuccessfully introduced legislation in 2010 and 2014 to criminalise the wearing of any face covering which prevented the identification of the wearer.

In 2010, Senator Corey Bernardi wrote an article calling for a ban on face covering in public while then Senator Jacqui Lambie announced plans to introduce legislation to ban the burka in 2014. This was introduced in February, 2017 but went nowhere.

It has been suggested that a total ban on face veils would be problematic given that Section 116 of the Constitution prohibits the Federal Government from making any law "prohibiting the free exercise of religion".

However, despite both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader refusing to support any ban, there have been some careful but limited moves towards denying the legitimacy of wearing the burka or niqab in certain defined circumstances – for example, in September, 2011 the NSW Government passed the Identification Legislation Amendment Act which requires a person to remove a face covering if asked to do so by a state official.

Prime Minister Turnbull has conceded that people should be required to show their face for "security and identification purposes" but added, "In Australia we've never had a practice of telling people what they should wear."

In August 2017 when One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson wore a burka into the Senate she was strongly attacked by then Attorney-General Senator George Brandis who said of the move, " ... to mock (Islamic) religious garments is an appalling thing to do." He received a standing ovation from ALP, Green and some cross-bench Senators although the reaction on government benches was much more muted - some scattered clapping but certainly no standing ovation which suggested that at least some government senators were uneasy about the passion and strength of Senator Brandis' attack.

Clearly, the momentum towards a total ban is gathering pace in Europe and even in African countries which have been subjected to terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists. Italy's new government, which has pledged to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal, mostly Muslim, immigrants, is tipped to also introduce a burka and niqab ban.

Given the overwhelming evidence, there is no appetite for turning back that gathering consensus and the growing threat of Muslim extremism will only serve to accelerate these bans.