French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that the veil is a “banner for Islamism, a marker of the subordination of women to men.”
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has reignited the debate over religious attire in public spaces by calling for a ban on Muslim women wearing hijabs while accompanying children on school outings, according to The Times.
While religious head coverings are already prohibited in French state schools, a 2019 Senate-approved bill mandating the removal of headscarves during school outings failed to become law.
“The threat of attack has never been so great as now,” Retailleau warned, citing nine foiled attacks in 2024, the highest number since 2017. He attributed the growing threat to young individuals radicalised through social media.
Retailleau described political Islam as a significant national threat, aiming to “overturn our institutions and undermine national cohesion to impose Shariah law in the long term.” He emphasised the need to curb the spread of Islamism in public spaces, including education and sports.
Addressing school outings specifically, Retailleau argued that women accompanying students “should not be veiled,” calling the hijab a “banner for Islamism” and a symbol of women’s subordination.
He also criticised what he called the French political left’s growing tolerance for Islamism, stating, “Today, antisemitism has two faces: Political Islam and those who use the Palestinian tragedy to court the Muslim vote.”
Retailleau’s remarks are likely to spark renewed debate in France, a country with strict secularism laws and a history of contentious policies surrounding religious expression. The proposal underscores ongoing tensions between freedom of religious expression and national security concerns.
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