75 percent of Norwegians want to ban the face covering headdress nikab in school and higher education, according to a survey.
14 percent said it should be allowed, and 11 percent say they have no opinion, according to the study conducted by Ipsos for the newspaper Dagbladet.
– There is a distinct wave across Europe, where nikab and visible Muslim clothing is not desired. Just look at the rhetoric of Listhaug, that in Norway “we eat pork, drink alcohol and show our face,” says Njal Høstmælingen, human rights expert at the International Law and Policy Institute.
Religious historian Kari Vogt, at the University of Oslo, believes a ban on the nikab is problematic and probably not the way to go.
– We must become more flexible and open to a debate in order to avoid that the headscarf becomes so polarized, she said.
At the same time she added that Egypt, Turkey and several countries in South East Asia prohibits the nikab in teaching situations.
FRP want a ban, and in August there was a self-styled integration choice for Labor, Left, SV, KrF and the Centre and said that they supported a ban in schools.
In November, a majority in the Church, Education and Research Committee of the Parliament also accepted the national rules against full-face garment in Norwegian schools. A ban will probably be in place during 2017.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
