Should the Burqa be banned in Australia

[Drop Bear]

A more important question is should the mullet be banned ?

If they ban trackpants and ugg boots in public I'm screwed.

[(S)aintbackline]

A little Mutual Respect (tm) would go a long way.

The state can resepct their choice to cover up their Forbidden Fruits in general society.

In turn they can respect the state's need to have faces visible in places like airports, banks, secure installations, etc.

Very well said.

Get rid of full Burqua - YES - there is absolutely NO cultural reason for them to wear it here. They don't have to walk behind their men here and won't get stoned to death for not wearing it. They wanted freedom by moving here, I don't see how wearing this monstrocity is freeing them. Not to mention the security risk.

My neighbours are from Afghanistan and fleed here due to the war about 6 years ago. Not even the mother has ever worn a scarf or a burqua. The daughter went over there to marry a year ago and recently her husband came to live here (he's an IT whiz, so skilled migrant) and I was afraid she would end up wearing one - but she hasn't and he is happy with that.. 2 women that are still very religious, however have embraced our society and culture.

Nothing wrong with the scarf however, we shouldn't forget that even as late as the 1950's, a lot of women even in our society wouldn't leave the house without one, or a hat.

Correct, it is not a long standing tradition to wear a burqa, i beleive it only really came around in the 50's when the middle east started to get over run by islamic fundamentalist. But each to their own I think it would be UNAustralian to deny them the right to wear it, it should obviously not be allowed in banks, courts, government buildings and airports for security reasons but everywhere else should be fine.

[aceman]

here goes I believe it should be not allowed why should they hide themselves behind this thing due to religious reasons. I do not mind the head scarf but the full body thing actually scares me. Why because I cannot see their eyes or facial movement. I believe all religions have a place and peoples beliefs but I feel that burqa is demeaning to women and disrespectful to Australians.

Can we be 100% certain there is not a male with a concealed weapon or bomb under the garb?
I think not and we know extremists will try anything so I say NO BURQA.

[LMA]

I find them sexy, if we are going to continue to accept immigrants of all cultures we have to respect their values, surely our screening of people we allow into into our society can weed out any potential dangers.

Sexy? Until this is revealed

[LMA]

You can't have it both ways, if we were to have a poll and say should women not work and get back in the kitchen, there would be a overwhelming no vote, The Burqa in a way is exactly that, it was introduced by extremist islamic groups ie Taliban to oppress women.
I don't think it's religious belief but more of a society belief.

[Johno6]

Mullet and the BUM BAG!!

[Q.]

You can't have it both ways, if we were to have a poll and say should women not work and get back in the kitchen, there would be a overwhelming no vote, The Burqa in a way is exactly that, it was introduced by extremist islamic groups ie Taliban to oppress women.
I don't think it's religious belief but more of a society belief.

The burqa has been around for centuries.

[LMA]

You can't have it both ways, if we were to have a poll and say should women not work and get back in the kitchen, there would be a overwhelming no vote, The Burqa in a way is exactly that, it was introduced by extremist islamic groups ie Taliban to oppress women.
I don't think it's religious belief but more of a society belief.

The burqa has been around for centuries.

Using the Afghan as an example, I should of said enforced by the Taliban. But the bottom line is it's not a religious have to, more of a choice. So it should be banned in certain places of our great country.

[Hondo]

I think the source of this debate is that there's a member's bill to have the Burqa banned in certain places such as a bank purely for security reasons.

However it seems to have spiralled into a wider community debate about the burqa in general. I'd like to think in a free country if you wish to wear a certain style of clothing you can.

In airports, apparently the muslim community have reached an agreement with officials in that woman have to reveal their face to an appropriate customs officer to verify their identity. Surely common sense like this can be applied to banks?

[White Line Fever]

The question needs to be asked..

Do these women want to wear them or it enforced by the Islamic Male community?

Is it against women's rights to wear them?
Surely in Australia they should feel safe and allowed to expose their faces/body as they seem fit.

[Sojourner]

Is the bill about banning the Burqa as has been done in France, or is it about banning any form or face covering in banks and servos and so on? My thoughts is that its about the latter option that the Finance Union feels that the safety of their members is comprimised by permitting any person to cover their faces in places that are usual targets for being held up where CCTV recognition is recognised as being vital to catch people.

Whether it covers it or not I am not sure, yet under current laws I dont think it can be enforced for someone to not wear a covering over their face when their drivers licence photo is taken and if that is the whole point of having the photo then it should be looked at and a universal standard applied to all people.

[Hondo]

Whether it covers it or not I am not sure, yet under current laws I dont think it can be enforced for someone to not wear a covering over their face when their drivers licence photo is taken and if that is the whole point of having the photo then it should be looked at and a universal standard applied to all people.

According to the Minister for this area I heard on the radio yesterday, like with the airports there's a procedure agreed with the muslim community about how and where the photograph for the licence is taken. They have to reveal their face for the licence photo and apparently they accept that. So even if there is no law as such the community try to work with the Australian system which is what I hope can be done with the banks because new laws like what has been proposed just create unnecessary divides in the community IMO.

Also worth adding that according to the minister, she consulted with SAPOL and they told her that there were minimal actual cases of hidden identities inside burqa's being used in crimes.

[aceman]

Whether it covers it or not I am not sure, yet under current laws I dont think it can be enforced for someone to not wear a covering over their face when their drivers licence photo is taken and if that is the whole point of having the photo then it should be looked at and a universal standard applied to all people.

According to the Minister for this area I heard on the radio yesterday, like with the airports there's a procedure agreed with the muslim community about how and where the photograph for the licence is taken. They have to reveal their face for the licence photo and apparently they accept that. So even if there is no law as such the community try to work with the Australian system which is what I hope can be done with the banks because new laws like what has been proposed just create unnecessary divides in the community IMO.

Also worth adding that according to the minister, she consulted with SAPOL and they told her that there were minimal actual cases of hidden identities inside burqa's being used in crimes.[/quote]


And without sounding synical, that could also mean "it's only a matter of time"!

[bulldogproud2]

We have to realise that there are different garments worn by different groups of Moslem people. In Saudi Arabia it is a Niqab which is a black head-to-toe garment with a thin slit for the eyes; in Afghanistan it is the Burqa which is a full head-to-toe veil with mesh for the eyes; whilst in Indonesia it is the Hijab which is a scarf that covers the hair, neck and ears but leaves the face visible. Religiously, it is not a choice for a Saudi Arabian Muslim to change to just wearing a scarf. It would be totally against their cultural beliefs.

An interesting point about Bob Such's comments re the Burqa were that he said that he wants it banned because not only does it conceal identity but it also could conceal a weapon. Heck, even trousers or shirts could conceal weapons!! (Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me??)
For his point to be acceptable it would mean that all clothing should be banned! We would all have to be nudists so as not to conceal weapons.

Cheers

[bulldogproud2]

My personal view is that the Burqa should not be banned. Although the wearing of the Burqa is not mentioned in the Qu'ran, it has been part of Muslim culture for thousands of years. In all that time, there have been very few criminal cases reported involving crimes where the criminal has worn the Burqa. Why ban something because there is a small risk that something 'may happen'. We have a larger risk of being hit by a car crossing the road. Should we ban all cars because something 'may happen'??

Cheers

[Drop Bear]

Forget Burquas, can we please ban the word "UnAustralian"? It's a stupid ******* made up media word that doesn't mean anything FFS!

[Rik E Boy]

Yes we should be eating a wider variety of take out foods considering that there are now so many nationalities opening restaruants.

regards,

REB

[aceman]

My personal view is that the Burqa should not be banned. Although the wearing of the Burqa is not mentioned in the Qu'ran, it has been part of Muslim culture for thousands of years. In all that time, there have been very few criminal cases reported involving crimes where the criminal has worn the Burqa. Why ban something because there is a small risk that something 'may happen'. We have a larger risk of being hit by a car crossing the road. Should we ban all cars because something 'may happen'??

Cheers

No sir, but some of the idiots in the drivers seat can be.
Go spend a day in the Customs at Sydney or Melbourne Airport and take note of the "not so desirables" that are taken aside there and see what some try to get into the country, having their face covered is only a drop in the ocean.

[bulldogproud2]

Am sure that it is not only those who wear burqas who try to bring things into the country that they shouldn't.
Cheers

[Leaping Lindner]

Forget Burquas, can we please ban the word "UnAustralian"? It's a stupid ******* made up media word that doesn't mean anything FFS!

But that would be unaustralian to do that.

For my money forget the burqa. Ban Ed Hardy and Elwood T-Shirts.