The German state of Lower Saxony is considering banning the Islamic full-face veil for civil servants, its interior minister said Thursday, after a neighbouring region said it would take similar measures. “The burqa has no place in public service,” Uwe Schuenemann told the Neue Presse regional daily. “Lower Saxony is currently looking at legal regulations for employees and officials.”
On Wednesday, the western state of Hesse prohibited the wearing of the veil for civil servants, the first of Germany’s 16 states to enact such a regulation. “Civil service employees and those who come into contact with citizens should not be veiled,” said Hesse’s interior minister Boris Rhein in a statement.