Switzerland’s Face-Covering Ban Goes Into Effect

Shoppers walk along the Bahnhofstrasse shopping street in Zurich, Switzerland, on March 1, 2021. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

A ban on face coverings in public places, commonly called the burqa ban, came into effect in Switzerland on Jan. 1.

The ban received overwhelming legislative approval in 2023, two years after Swiss citizens narrowly voted in a national referendum to forbid covering faces in public spaces and private buildings accessible to the public.

In addition to ski masks and bandannas, the law applies to Islamic women’s garments such as the niqab, which covers most of the face but leaves an open slot for the eyes, and the burqa, which covers the entire body from the top of the head to the ground with a mesh screen over the eyes. It doesn’t affect the hijab, which covers the hair, neck, and ears.

Violators of the ban face fines of up to 1,000 Swiss francs, or about $1,144. Exceptions to the ban include reasons relating to health, safety, local customs, or weather conditions.

Face covering will still be permitted on planes, in diplomatic and consular premises, and places of worship.

Critics of the ban argue that very few people in the country actually wear burqas or niqabs and that a nationwide ban would infringe on the rights of individual Swiss federal states, or cantons. Supporters contend that face veils are incompatible with the country’s norms and hamper integration into Swiss society.

“The basic rules of peaceful coexistence and integration are at stake,” Marco Chiesa, chairman of the Swiss People’s Party, said in an interview in 2021 ahead of the referendum. “In Switzerland, we look each other in the eye. And here, certain symbols of radical Islam must not have space.”

Switzerland joins a growing list of European countries imposing such restrictions. France, Switzerland’s neighbor, became the first member of the European Union to ban the burqa and niqab in public spaces in 2010, calling them symbols of oppression of women.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands have since implemented full or partial bans on full-face veils. In Germany, while some states prohibit face veils in schools and public spaces, there is no nationwide ban on wearing them publicly.

In 2021, the EU’s highest court ruled against two Muslim women in Germany who were suspended from their jobs for wearing hijabs at work, saying employers may require employees not to wear religious clothing if they work in a job that deals with the public.

“A prohibition on wearing any visible form of expression of political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace may be justified by the employer’s need to present a neutral image toward customers or to prevent social disputes,” the European Court of Justice declared.

“However, that justification must correspond to a genuine need on the part of the employer and, in reconciling the rights and interests at issue, the national courts may take into account the specific context of their Member State and, in particular, more favorable national provisions on the protection of freedom of religion.”