(Radio France) France’s right-wing majority Senate has approved proposals including expanded bans on religious symbols and clothing in a set of new draft laws to counter what President Emmanuel Macron has called Islamist separatism. Critics say the new measures, which may not be included in the final version, discriminate against Muslims.
The French Senate, dominated by right-wing opposition party Les Républicains, approved a new version of the so-called controversial “separatism” bill late Monday by 208 in favour, with 109 opposed.
The new version expands the measures already adopted by the National Assembly, controlled by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Republic on the Move party (LREM).
Designed primarily to crack down on religious leaders or organisations deemed to be espousing values contrary to those of the French Republic, the bill has been controversial since it was first announced last autumn as a measure to tackle what Macron called Islamist separatism.
