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Besson reignites the burka debate in France, warnings of the darker side of the Lisbon Treaty

by Marco Chown Oved

Article published on the 2009-10-30 Latest update 2009-11-12 16:02 TU

A woman wearing a burka walks down the street in Venissieux, near Lyon.
(Photo: AFP)

Should women be able to wear burkas in France? Is France's policy of deporting undocumented migrants working? Do we know everything about the Lisbon Treaty, soon to come into force?

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Our story about Immigration Minister Eric Besson’s comments on the burka in France seem to have struck a chord in the United States. After the story was picked up by Fox News, several readers wrote in to agree with Besson, who said that the burka was “unacceptable” in France and “contrary” to national identity.

Brad from the United States offers France his congratulations for taking a stance against an “obvious effort to co-opt your culture and, ultimately, your country.”

“If the Muslims don't want to adapt to western culture, why did they come to France in the first place?” Brad asks, answering his own question by saying they came “to overthrow France politically once their demographics reach a point of numerical superiority to that of your own.”

Besson might agree as he approved the deportation of three Afghans back to Kabul on a shared flight with Britain last week. The first joint-deportation between these two countries since 1995 could become an EU-wide program, if reports of the negotiations underway are to be believed.

Speaking from the perspective of women, Emily Watson from the US writes that she thinks it’s necessary to ban the Burka.

“Women can be raped for not wearing one...and they are. If no women wear it, well it would be sending a message that rape is not okay for women who do not cover,” she writes.

Jack Turner of Beaver Dam, Virginia, supports Besson, saying that France should provide an example for the rest of the Western world.

“Do not allow the destruction of your social fabric by the forces of so-called diversity. To paraphrase an old saying, ‘when in France, do as the French do!!’” Turner writes. “We in America are being ‘undone’ intentionally by the same forces that are working on France. We need you to succeed.”

Also causing some controversy this week was the report that the Lisbon Treaty was on its way to being ratified and implemented.

“The Lisbon Treaty is a rat trap that puts people in cages,” writes a visitor who calls himself Dem Free of France. “We must urgently inform people about the perversity of a system that abandons the democratic process and derived a forced march to the satisfaction of powerful special interests to the detriment of general interest.

“The treaty must be thoroughly amended to give latitude to the democratic expression… The European Constitution provides some kind of smokescreen concerning freedom and prepares the ground for a totalitarian police drift of Europe through 'annexes' ignored the public and the media never talk. These annexes empty shell the 'Charter of Fundamental Rights' included in the constitution and intended to guarantee human rights in Europe. European law is above national laws, these limitations apply to all European countries.”

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