An outrage, and a tragedy.
The lawmakers who were responsible for the authorship and passage of this ban should be hauled before the European Court of Human Rights and dismissed from their posts. This is an egregious form of discrimination against the most basic level of human freedom, as well as a flagrant display of hatred and religious intolerance. What the Government of Belgium has done will leave a rotten, festering black stain upon the very soul of Europe for generations to come, unless the heinous action is promptly rescinded. For such a reactionary and totalitarian law to be passed in a continent known for its rich humanistic tradition of enlightenment thinkers who promoted ideals of rationalism,fairness, jusice , and equality, this is a most uncharacteristically cruel and despotic attempt to rob human beings of their liberty.
A colonial legacy of the Rwandan genocide, recent successive failed governments and now THIS? Perhaps the Belgians should stay out of politics altogetheand stick to making Chocolate and Waffles, those seem to be the only things they can manage to get right.
Rwandan genocide wasn't Belgium, it were the rwandans themselves that killed each other. And how is stopping people from wearing masks a bad idea? I bet that if the law was to ban KKK masks instead of burqas you would think it's a good idea, but because this is even slightly related to muslims, people get angry.
Yes, the Rwandans did the killing, but in the even responsiblity ultimately rests with the Belgians, as it was a result of a century of racist indoctrination and enforced apartheid by the Belgian colonial authorities of the Tutsi and Hutu. at the time of the genocide, the belgians were in a stronger position than any other nation to intervene to stop the slaughter, but they simply looked the other way and washed their hands of it. And yes, banning KKK masks is also an attack on human liberty but it is most certainly not comparable to banning veils. The former is a public symbol of hatred intended solely to offend, while the latter is a deeply personal observance of religious duty.