Danish woman deported for refusing to remove her niqab

A Danish woman has been deported from Belgium to Tunisia because she refused to take off her niqab at Brussels Airport. 

Theo Francken, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, said the unidentified traveller was sent back to Tunisia on Friday because police could not identify her.

He said on Twitter: ‘A Danish citizen coming from Tunis refused to take off her niqab at our border. Police could not identify her. She was sent back to Tunis.’

The niqab, which covers the whole face apart from the eyes, was banned in Belgium in 2011 along with the burqa.

In an earlier tweet he said: ‘I informed my Danish colleague Inger [Stojberg] about the niqab-incident with a Danish citizen on our Schengen border.’ 

Theo Francken, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, said the unidentified traveller was sent back to Tunisia on Friday because police could not identify her

In an earlier tweet he said: ‘I informed my Danish colleague Inger [Stojberg] about the niqab-incident with a Danish citizen on our Schengen border’

In a longer Facebook post he said: ‘After she refused to make her face visible in Tunis, she refused to do so in Zaventem.

‘Our border police then refused her access to the Schengen area. Without identity checks, no access to our territory.

‘People who refuse to identify cannot be allowed to access Schengen.’