Angela Merkel officials seek burka ban

Security officials from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc have proposed a ban on wearing the burka and other face-covering veils in public schools, courts, while driving and in other situations.

Full-face coverings worn by some Muslim women are “not part of our open society” and officials “urge everyone to show their faces,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after meeting his state counterparts from Merkel’s conservative Union bloc.

However, he acknowledged constitutional problems with a blanket burka ban and said the proposal seeks only to prohibit face coverings “where showing the face has a function”.