The French Council of State, the highest administrative authority in the country, validated this Thursday the ban on the abaya, the long female tunic characteristic of some Islamic countries. The Government banned it last week in schools and institutes, considering that it is a religious sign that violates the principle of secularism, one of the pillars of the Republic. For this reason, to prevent religion from interfering in teaching, the veil was banned in schools in 2004.
The Council of State considers that this ban does not violate any fundamental rights, as denounced by the Muslim rights association, which requested the suspension of the measure. The Council of Muslims of France defends that this garment does not have a religious connotation, but rather a cultural one, and prohibiting it means stigmatizing the young women who wear it.
There was never any doubt with the veil, as it was always clear that it had a religious component, but the abaya has generated controversy. Classes began on Monday, with an eye on this garment. In fact, there are doubts about how to define it. Many of the girls who wear it define it as a “kimono.”
Prohibiting this clothing “does not constitute a serious and manifestly illegal violation of the right to respect for private life, freedom of religion, the right to education and respect for the best interests of the minor or the principle of non-discrimination,” says the Council , which confirms that wearing this garment in a school “is part of a logic of religious affirmation”, as can be seen “from the dialogues held with the students.”
According to data from the Ministry of Education, last Monday, ‘back to school’ day, only about 300 girls went to class with some 12 million students wearing an abaya. Within the centers themselves there is division and some educators believe that it is a smokescreen to hide the problems they have in the classrooms, such as lack of staff.
For the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal (he took office in July, when Macron reorganized the Government), this garment is clearly a religious sign and he has defended this measure, arguing that last year numerous incidents were reported in the centers that threatened the secularism and that were related to the abaya.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has denied that banning the abaya means “stigmatizing” Muslims. The left bloc is divided: The leader of France Insoumise, Jean Luc Mélenchon, has described the measure as Islamophobic, while the socialists do support it.
In France there are 10% Muslims. It is the second religion in the country (after Catholicism), although half of the citizens declare they have no religion, according to data from Insee, the statistics institute. In 2010 there was already controversy after the ban on the full Islamic veil in public spaces, and in 2016 it was the turn of the burkini, the swimsuit that covers the entire body.