Excerpt:
A vast majority of Austrians want an anti-burka law, according to a new poll.
Viennese public opinion agency Karmasin spoke with 500 Austrians to find that 71 per cent of them were in favour of such a law prohibiting wearing burkas in public places. Such veils cover women's bodies expect a small gap for their eyes. Only 23 per cent spoke out against the introduction of such a bylaw, Karmasin found in its survey conducted for weekly magazine profil.
There are no figures on how many Muslim women living in Austria wear burkas which are considered by some as a sign that they are repressed by their religious husbands. While newspapers speculate that most burka-wearing women were wealthy tourists on shopping sprees in Vienna and other holiday hotspots, Social Democratic (SPĂ–) Minister for Women Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek revealed she could imagine implementing an anti-burka regulation similar to restrictions in France, Belgium and other European countries.