ITALY is set to push a sweeping new law to ban burkas and virginity testing as part of a drive against what Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls “Islamic separatism.”
The conservative leader’s Brothers of Italy party unveiled the bill in parliament on Wednesday.
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It proposes fines of up to £2,600 (€3,000) for anyone wearing a burka or niqab in public spaces — from schools and shops to offices and universities.
The proposed law also goes further than face-covering bans in other European countries.
It introduces criminal penalties for “cultural crimes” including virginity testing, and raises the maximum punishment for forced marriages to 10 years in prison, with “religious coercion” grounds for prosecution.
“The spread of Islamic fundamentalism… undeniably constitutes the breeding ground for Islamist terrorism,” the draft legislation states.
It also aims to tighten control over mosque funding and Islamic educational institutions.
It will force any religious organisation not formally recognised by the state — currently all Muslim groups — to disclose every source of funding.
Those deemed a threat to state security will be barred from providing money.
Brothers of Italy lawmaker Andrea Delmastro: “Religious freedom is sacred, but it must be exercised in the open, in full respect of our constitution and the principles of the Italian state.”
“We have taken inspiration for this law from staunchly secular France, with the deep conviction that no foreign funding should ever undermine our sovereignty or our civilisation.”
Burkas — full-body garments with a mesh screen over the eyes — and niqabs, which leave only the eyes visible, are already restricted in parts of Italy.
Lombardy banned face coverings in public buildings in 2015.
The new bill would extend that ban nationwide.
Galeazzo Bignami, parliamentary leader of Brothers of Italy, said the proposal was intended to defend Italy from “all forms of extremism and any attempt to create parallel societies on Italian soil.”
Sara Kelany, a co-sponsor of the bill and the party’s head of immigration, said Italy could not tolerate “the creation of enclaves where sharia law prevails over Italian law.”
But she promised a “model of society based on integration, legality and the defence of western values.”
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Around two million Muslims live in Italy, and several groups have criticised the move as alienating and divisive.
France became the first European country to introduce a nationwide burka ban in 2011.
It was followed by Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.
The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly upheld such bans, while figures like Nigel Farage have branded the veils “anti-British.”
Meloni’s coalition, which includes Matteo Salvini’s League party, holds a strong parliamentary majority — making the bill likely to pass.
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