The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has strongly criticized France’s decision to ban the wearing of abayas, loose robe-like garments, in public schools, asserting that the move is being used to “target and intimidate” the country’s Muslim population under the guise of secularism.
USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper expressed concern, stating, “In a misguided effort to promote the French value of laïcité, the government is encroaching on religious freedom. France continues to wield a specific interpretation of secularism to target and intimidate religious groups, particularly Muslims.”
“While no government should use its authority to impose a specific religion on its population, it is equally condemnable to restrict the peaceful practice of individuals’ religious beliefs to promote secularism,” Cooper emphasized in the statement released in September.
USCIRF Cmmr @nuryturkel: “Muslim girls in #France shouldn’t have to put aside their religious beliefs & practices when stepping into a classroom, nor should they have to compromise their basic human rights, including their right to an education, in order to uphold their beliefs.”
— USCIRF (@USCIRF) September 8, 2023
France has had a law in place since 2004 that prohibits the wearing of any religious symbols or clothing in schools, which includes Jewish kippas, Christian crosses, and Islamic headscarves.
Recently, the question of whether abayas violate France’s policy of laïcité or secularism has stirred public debate. School authorities, in their efforts to adhere to the law, faced uncertainty on how to regulate abayas, which are primarily worn by Muslim girls as part of their modesty and religious practice. Unlike headscarves, abayas occupied a grey area and faced no outright ban until this year.
In response to the lack of consensus on whether abayas constituted religious dress, the education minister released standard guidelines in September that officially prohibited students from wearing abayas to school. On the first day of school in France, September 4, nearly 300 girls attended school wearing abayas. While many eventually changed their clothes to attend classes, dozens of girls refused on religious grounds and were sent home.
The USCIRF noted that the 2004 law has impacted all religious groups in France, but Muslim girls have faced particular scrutiny and restrictions since its enactment.
France’s actions stand in “direct contrast to Article 18 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),” which guarantee religious freedom to every person, including the freedom to manifest one’s religious beliefs through symbols or clothing, the USCIRF stated.
USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel expressed concern about the ban in a video published by Turkish broadcaster TRT World, saying, “It’s an unfair restriction, and it’s unfair to the girls who choose to wear their ethno-religious clothing.”
Furthermore, Turkel voiced concerns about the rhetoric linking the abaya ban to terrorism, stating, “We are very concerned that some of the rhetoric is specifically coming from President Emmanuel Macron himself linking this abaya ban to more religious clothing to terrorism.”
President Macron has emphasized that French authorities will be “uncompromising” in enforcing the new abaya ban in schools, emphasizing the secular nature of French schools and their role in fostering citizenship.
France’s abaya ban has faced criticism from various quarters, with opposition lawmakers like Danièle Obono denouncing it as a “new Islamophobic campaign.”