UMP supports ‘burqini’ ban

FRANCE'S governing party has backed swimming pool officials in a Paris suburb who banned a woman from swimming in a “burqini.”

The UMP party “supports this ban not only for reasons of hygiene but also in the name of the values of the Republic,” says the MP for Seine-et-Marne – where the incident occurred - Chantal Brunel.

She added that “the UMP reaffirms that any community living in France must conform to its secular values and traditions.”

Officials refused to allow a woman to swim in a burqini because of hygiene grounds; many pools impose strict laws banning swimming shorts and enforcing swimming hats for similar reasons.

The Australian creator of the burqini, Aheda Zanetti, has said that she is not surprised to hear about the controversy “because France has a fear of the unknown.”

She said public pools in some other countries, including the UK, had also banned the garments initially, before relaxing their rules.

The burqini debate comes after it was announced the French government was considering banning the burqa – the full-body garment worn by some Muslim women outdoors.

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Photo: www.ahiida.com