Mufti of Estonia Condemns Ideas of Banning Migrants From Wearing Burqas

TALLINN (Sputnik) – On Thursday, Estonia’s Minister of Social Protection Margus Tsahkna said that his ministry had proposed to ban wearing burqas as part of security measures in Estonia. Burqas could obstruct a person's identification during the redistribution of asylum seekers as they clothing covers the entire head of a woman, except for the eyes.

Muhhamedsin said on Friday, as quoted by the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR), that the initiative is a violation of the Estonian Constitution as it infringes on the right to express religious beliefs and discriminates on the grounds of religion.

He added that the Estonian Muslim community would struggle for their rights.

In late July, EU member countries agreed to redistribute some 55,000 asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa, in an attempt to resolve the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean. Under this agreement, Estonia will receive over 150 refugees in the next two years.

Estonia is not the first country of the European Union to discuss the restriction of the burqas. In May, the Dutch Government approved a ban on burqas in some public places, including education and health care institutions, government buildings and on public transport. A similar ban on face coverings in public places has been in place in France since 2010.