The Dutch government must take the lead in combating racism, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism and Xenophobia, Tendayi Achiume.
Partial Ban On Face Covering Clothing Act
Oct 8 '19 12:50
Sep 26 '19 15:50
Since the Partial Ban on Face-Covering Clothing was implemented on August 1st, banning clothing items like burkas and balaclavas in public transport, hospitals, education- and government buildings, no violators have been fined, RTL Nieuws reports after speaking to institutions where the ban applies. A number of organizations raised concerns about increased aggression and hostility against women who wear burkas and niqabs.
Sep 17 '19 12:50
A train was stopped at Rotterdam Central Station on Monday because of a woman wearing a niqab. According to the police, NS inspectors asked for police aid because the woman refused to show her face to the inspectors so that they could check whether she had a valid ticket. The woman was not fined, NOS reports.
Aug 22 '19 08:37
A niqab-wearing woman filed a complaint against the Diakonessenhuis hospital in Utrecht, saying that she was refused treatment and repeatedly asked by security to remove her niqab, the Telegraaf reports.
Aug 21 '19 09:31
Angela Kempeners, a 36-year-old Limburg woman who was removed from an Arriva bus in Stein on Monday because she was wearing a niqab, is shaken by the event, but will continue to take the bus to work. "I felt just like a black person in the United States. This really hit me", she said to newspaper Trouw.
Aug 20 '19 14:43
A niqab-wearing woman was forced to leave a public bus operated by Arriva in Stein, Limburg on Monday. The bus driver in question called the police when the woman refused to leave the bus, the public transit firm confirmed to NU.nl and the Telegraaf.
The bus driver asked the woman to get off the bus and stopped the vehicle when she refused to do so, according to NU.nl. The police were called in and responding officers then escorted the woman off the bus. This was "not in accordance with the guidelines", an Arriva spokesperson said.
Aug 13 '19 17:30
A man was arrested in Den Haag Centraal on Friday for wearing a balaclava in the station. But the arrest was unjustified, the police in The Hague said on Twitter on Monday.
The arrested man was a demonstrator. He was wearing a balaclava as a counter-protest for a pro-burka protest happening on the Malieveld, according to the Telegraaf. He walked into the station, and was quickly addressed and taken away by police officers, according to the newspaper.
Aug 5 '19 12:00
The PvdA faction in Amsterdam received a storm of negative reactions because of a photo posted on the party's Twitter account on Saturday. In the photo, PvdA councilor in Amsterdam Hendrik Jan Biemond is posing in a yellow burka with other burka wearing people from the LGBTQ community during Canal Pride in Amsterdam on Saturday, AD reports.
Aug 5 '19 09:05
There seems to be some confusion around exactly what the so-called burka ban, implemented in the Netherlands on August 1st, entails. The municipality of Nijmegen had to apologize to a niqab wearing woman on Sunday, after she was stopped at the door of the Leemkuil playground in the city when she and her family wanted to visit, De Gelderlander reports.
Aug 1 '19 07:47
After some 14 years of discussions and failed attempts, the Netherlands is implementing the so-called burka ban today. From now on you are not allowed to wear face-covering clothing in government buildings, education institutions, healthcare institutions, and public transport.
Jul 30 '19 08:27
The police want to offer an alternative for burka or niqab wearers who want to come to a police station to make a report after the ban on face-covering clothing takes effect on August 1st. A police directive states that people who do not want to take off their veil "for religious reasons" can go to a separate area, a so-called reporting area, to make their report. This alternative is against the law, the Ministry of Home Affairs said to NRC.
Jul 18 '19 12:40
People who violate the so-called burka ban can be fined 150 euros, the Public Prosecution Service said in a prosecution directive. The ban,officially called the Partial Ban On Face Covering Clothing Act, applies to wearing face-covering clothing in public spaces like government buildings, hospitals, schools, and on public transportation. It takes effect on August 1st.
