Maximilien Carlier (in Lille) / Photo credits: AFP 08:49, February 21, 2024
A controversy has been growing in Lille since the publication of photos on social networks showing students wearing the full Islamic veil. The UNI student union reports an increase in this proselytism linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
A student in a full veil in front of a computer, another, on the university square. These photos were distributed on the social network X, by UNI, the student union marked on the right. “These are not isolated cases. It’s several times a month, we receive this type of photos, which is quite alarming in a French university. And even one case is one case too many,” explains Mathéo Tessa, the co-leader of the union.
>> READ ALSO -
Wearing the full veil, prayers outside dedicated rooms: universities are worried
“It doesn’t shock anyone anymore”
In order to access the faculty and pass through security, these students use stratagems, explains Timothée, in law: “They put on a Covid mask, obviously, they cannot be refused entry. Then in the classroom class or at the BU, they put on their full veil. Nobody says anything. It doesn't shock anyone anymore, it's usual."
However, it is prohibited. According to the 2010 law, no one may, in public spaces, wear clothing intended to conceal their face. “To give a figure, since September 2023, we have had five cases of wearing the full veil. Five cases for 80,000 students registered at the University of Lille,” indicates Etienne Peyrat, first vice-president of the University of Lille. Three of these five students were reminded of the law, resolved quickly. Another was summoned while another is in disciplinary proceedings. The sanction may be exclusion.