Fear for Muslim schoolgirls rises as Austria pushes hijab ban

Fear for Muslim schoolgirls rises as Austria pushes hijab ban

Austria’s government is once again moving to impose a headscarf ban targeting Muslim girls in schools — reviving a policy first introduced in 2019 by the former right-wing coalition led by then-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache. That original law applied to primary school pupils aged six to ten and imposed fines of up to €440 on parents who failed to comply, or even short prison sentences as substitutes. Howev…