Netherlands burka ban largely not enforced; no fines, four warnings in a year

In the over one year since the Netherlands introduced it's Partial Ban on Face Covering Clothing Act, more commonly referred to as the burka ban, not a single fine was issued based on this law. The police and municipal officials only gave four warnings - in a bus, a train, a city hall, and a hospital, the Volkskrant reports based on data from the National Police.

One warning was issued in a bus in Stein, where the woman eventually got off the bus. Another was issued on a train near Rotterdam, in which a niqab wearing woman did not cooperate in a "name check", according to the police data. Another warning was issued in Rotterdam when a woman refused to show her face at the municipality. She "left before the police arrived". And a woman received a warning at a hospital.

The law bans people from wearing face covering clothing on public transport, education, healthcare and government buildings. It was implemented, after some 15 years of political warfare, in August 2019. The warnings were issued shortly after that, the last one on October 15 last year.

Proponents argued that the ban was necessary for safety and communication in public space. Critics said it was a way of restricting Muslims' freedom of religion.

The fact that the law resulted in only four warnings seem to indicate that critics who said that the law was purely symbolic and would not be enforced in public, were right. It could also indicate that niqab and burka wearing women started avoiding public spaces, or took off their veils when there. But lawyer Famile Arslan, who represented niqab and burka wearing women in the past, considers this unlikely. "They are hardcore and don't easily make concessions," she said to the Volkskrant.

The coronavirus and the mandatory face masks on public transport, and urgent advice to wear a face mask other indoor public spaces, make it unlikely that the burka ban will be enforced more strictly this year. "The burka ban was about communication and safety, but if you don't wear a face mask now, that's not safe," lawyer Arslan said to the Volkskrant.