President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists are discussing a ban on girls wearing headscarves in public.
Key concerns are the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood and “political Islamism” in France, a “threat to national cohesion.” Taking point on the issue is former PM Gabriel Attal, who claims that the Muslim head covering worn by young girls
seriously undermines gender equality and the protection of children.
He told Le Parisien that he also wants to bring in the criminal offence of coercion for parents who make their daughters, aged 18 or under, wear the veil.
The prospective policy is taking shape against the backdrop of expert concerns about the growing ‘soft power’ of the Muslim Brotherhood in France. Perhaps now the government is finally waking up.
