Sarkozy on Immigrant Integration: Burqas Not Welcome In France

Controversial issue on immigrant and cultural integration in France:

Jamey Keaten writes in Huffington Post:

President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Monday that the Islamic burqa is not welcome in France, branding the face-covering, body-length gown as a symbol of subservience that suppresses women’s identities and turns them into “prisoners behind a screen.”

But there was a mixed message in the tough words: an admission that the country’s long-held principle of ethnic assimilation _ which insists that newcomers shed their traditions and adapt to French culture _ is failing because it doesn’t give immigrants and their French-born children a fair chance.

In a high-profile speech to lawmakers in the historic chateau at Versailles, Sarkozy said the head-to-toe Muslim body coverings were in disaccord with French values _ some of the strongest language against burqas from a European leader at a time when some Western officials have been seeking to ease tensions with the Muslim world. Click here for the full post.

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