The French resort of Cannes has banned full-body, head-covering swimsuits from its beaches, citing security reasons — a measure some are decrying as a discriminatory anti-Muslim move that only worsens
The French resort of Cannes has banned full-body, head-covering swimsuits from its beaches, citing security reasons — a measure some are decrying as a discriminatory anti-Muslim move that only worsens religious tensions.
The ban on so-called burkinis, at the height of the French Riviera’s vacation season, comes as France remains on edge after deadly Islamic extremist attacks in nearby Nice and on a Catholic church in northwest France.
A second resort on France’s Riviera coast, Villeneuve-Loubet, also banned burkinis after Cannes banished the full-body swimsuit. The town’s mayor told AFP that he made the decision to bar the burkini worn by some Muslim women because of sanitary reasons.
“I was informed that there was a couple on one of our beaches where the wife was swimming fully dressed,” Lionnel Luca said. “I considered that unacceptable for hygienic reasons and that in general it was unwelcome.”
The mayor of Cannes, famous for its annual film festival, said he had signed off on the burkini ban out of “respect for good customs and secularism”, a founding principle of the French republic.
But prohibiting the burkini has caused an uproar with anti-racism organisations and human rights groups vowing to go to court to seek to overturn the “deeply worrying” ban.
In the city of Marseille this week, a waterpark cancelled plans to host a private event for women wearing burkinis after the idea sparked an uproar.
The issue comes at a highly sensitive time for relations with Muslims in France after two attacks in July linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group.
Mayor Luca referred to the attacks in disputing charges that the burkini ban was discriminatory, saying it was intended “to avoid any disturbance to public order in the region which was hit by attacks-".
On July 14, the nearby Riviera city of Nice was the target of an attack claimed by ISIS which killed 85 people, when an Algerian ploughed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day.
And on July 26, a priest was killed in his church in north-western France by two attackers who had proclaimed their allegiance to ISIS.
Islamic dress is a hot-button issue in France, where the full-face veil is banned in public places. But there is no ban on wearing religious symbols or clothing.
French law already forbids face-covering veils anywhere in public, and headscarves in public schools.
Proponents say the laws preserve secular values and protect women from religious oppression. But critics say they’ve deepened the religious divide, and Islamic State extremists say the laws are justification for attacking France.
The local branch of the Human Rights League warned that Cannes’ burkini ban could further alienate French Muslims. The Collective Against Islamophobia in France said it’s filing a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Cannes measure. It urged tolerance, noting that Muslims made up about a third of the 85 victims of the July 14 truck attack on the Nice seafront.
Two weeks later, after extremists killed a Catholic priest near Rouen, Muslims across France attended Mass in a symbol of solidarity and a denunciation of terrorism.
