French Police Enforce Ban On Muslim Swimwear “Burkini” Following ISIS Attacks

Last week, the Nice administration, issued an order banning swimwear “burkinis” with religious connotations, citing security concerns.

Several other cities on France’s Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts have banned burkinis this summer following heightened tensions in France preceded by series of attacks by the Islamist State.

UK Mirror reported that French Police officers were seen enforcing the “burkini ban” at the promenade des anglais beach in Nice.

The officers forced a woman to remove her Muslim dress as she sunbathed on a beach, and fined her $42 for flouting the order.

The woman, Siam, a mother of two, whose family members have been French citizens for at least three generations, said: “I wasn’t even planning to swim, just to dip my feet”.

At a court in Nice on Monday, judges upheld the “burkini ban” in the resort of Villeneuve-Loubet, ruling that the female swimwear was liable to cause offence and to provoke people to violence.

Judges ruled that the clothing could be viewed as a “provocation exacerbating tensions” within France, which is currently under a State of Emergency following ISIS’ attacks, adding that the ruling was “necessary, appropriate and proportionate”.

While many see the ban as discriminatory, others argue that the swimwear, resembling a full-body wetsuit with a hood, oppresses women and violates France’s secular principles.