A US government advisory panel on Friday condemned ally France’s ban on schoolgirls wearing the abaya, saying the ban on long, loose-fitting dresses that cover the entire body is aimed at “intimidating” the Muslim minority.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom makes recommendations to the US government but does not set policy itself.
The head of the commission, Abraham Cooper, called the abaya ban “a misguided attempt to promote the French value of laissez-faire, official secularism.”
“France proceeds to target and scare devout bunches, especially Muslims, with a particular translation of secularism,” Cooper said in an articulation.
While no government should exercise its authority to impose a particular religion on its population, restricting the peaceful exercise of religious beliefs by individuals in order to promote secularism is equally reprehensible.”
French Education Minister Gabriel Atal announced last month that schools would no longer allow girls to wear Middle Eastern abayas.
In 2004, France banned schoolchildren from wearing “signs or clothing that visibly show religious affiliation” and outlawed headscarves, turbans, and large crosses.
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