Veils Banned in Major Luxembourg Communes

Although the Luxembourg government decided against a national ban on wearing burkas or niqabs on Nov. 24, four of its five largest communes—the smallest territorial-administrative divisions in Luxembourg—enacted legislation during the last week of November that bans all face coverings. These laws indirectly prohibit the wearing of burkas and niqabs, full veils with slits where the eyes are. Differdange, a commune located in southwestern Luxembourg and the country’s third largest, is the outlier. The only legislation in Differdange regarding the burka, enacted in July 2007, states that, “any hidden or disguised person shall carry a form of ID which must be presented upon the request of a member of the police force.”

In contrast, Luxembourg City, the commune housing the capital, along with Esch-sur-Alzette, Dudelange, and Ettelbruck, has forbidden citizens from covering their faces in public squares and streets.

The federal government’s decision to not enact legislation at a national level has opened doors to criticism. The Mayor of Ettelbruck, Jean-Paul Shaaf, told the Luxemburger Wort, a national newspaper, on Nov. 30 that “the government is contradicting itself” by failing to legislate while giving communes the opportunity to legislate independently.

According to the Luxemburger Wort, however, the new laws in communes will affect few people. In fact, only 16 Muslim women in Luxembourg currently wear the niqab, and none wear the burka.

Still, high levels of migration to Europe in conjunction with November’s terror attacks in Paris have bred vigilance in Western Europe, increasing the likelihood that these laws will become more relevant in the coming months amid concerns that face coverings present a public security threat.