Austrian government presses ahead with planned headscarf ban in schools

VIENNA: Austria’s governing coalition said on Tuesday it plans to pass a ban on headscarves in schools for girls under 14 despite criticism from rights groups and the possibility that it will be overturned by the Constitutional Court.

The conservative-led government took office in March after the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) came first in last year’s parliamentary election with around 29% of the vote but could not find a coalition partner to govern with.

The coalition of three centrist parties has made fighting illegal immigration a central pillar of its programme, a move that critics say fuels anti-Muslim sentiment.

The lower house is due this week to discuss the legislation that would introduce the ban.

“It is not a measure against a religion. It is a measure to protect the freedom of girls in this country,” Yannick Shetty, the parliamentary leader of the liberal Neos party, told a joint press conference with his counterparts from the two other government parties.

The ban would affect up to 12,000 children, he said.

The Islamic Religious Community in Austria, the body that formally represents the country’s Muslims, has rejected a ban as infringing on fundamental rights.

The FPO has called the proposed ban a “first step” that should then be widened to include all pupils and school staff.

Amnesty International said in a statement that passing the law in its current form “will not empower girls – on the contrary, it will add to the current racist climate towards Muslims.”

The Constitutional Court struck down a similar ban for girls under 10 in 2020 because it targeted Muslims. Going against the principle that the state must be religiously neutral would require a special justification, the court ruled at the time.

The government says it has tried to avoid the same outcome.

“Will it pass muster with the Constitutional Court? I don’t know. We have done our best,” Shetty said.