Switzerland may vote on a nationwide burqa ban

Switzerland could become the latest country to ban facial coverings worn by some Muslim women after activists collected more than the 100,000 signatures required to put the proposal to a national vote.

A committee handed in the signatures to the Federal Chancellery in Bern for a people's initiative on the issue. The federal authorities and parliament must now decide upon it, the Swiss News Agency reported.

The group, called 'Yes to a Mask Ban,' said it will deliver the petition to federal offices in Bern on Friday, setting up a vote by 2020.

Full-face coverings like niqabs and burqas are a polarising issue across Europe, with some arguing they symbolise discrimination against women and should be outlawed. The clothing has already been banned in France.

'Facial coverings are a symbol of radical Islam that have nothing to do with religious freedom but are rather an expression of the oppression of women,' said Anian Liebrand, a Swiss campaign leader.

The initiative, dubbed by the local media, a "burqa ban", provides for exceptions for reasons of health or safety, climatic reasons or in the case of local customs.
The federal authorities will now validate the signatures before the government and parliament will discuss it and set a date.
Three years ago, the Italian-speaking Ticino area became the first of Switzerland's 26 cantons to approve a burka ban.
Several countries and regions in the European Union, including France, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well the Catalonia region of Spain, have outlawed the wearing of face covering in public.