The face-covering veil is set to be banned within weeks in Belgium, making it the first country in Europe to make the wearing of Muslim clothing illegal.
Women who flout the ban will face from one to seven days in jail or a fine of 15 to 25 euros.
While President Sarkozy is encountering obstacles to his plans to outlaw the face-covering niqab in France, Belgium’s main parties are united behind the move and the influential home affairs committee voted for it unanimously today.
A vote in the full Belgian parliament is expected on April 22 and a “yes” vote seems assured given the political consensus.
“Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society,” said MP Daniel Bacquelaine, from a French-speaking centre right party who proposed the bill.
“The burqa is contrary to the dignity of women. It is a walking prison.”
He added: “We cannot allow someone to claim the right to look at others without being seen.
“It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and encloses an individual.”
Denis Ducarme MP, also from the centre-right Reform Movement, added: “This is a very strong signal that is being sent to Islamists. I am proud that Belgium would be the first country in Europe which dares to legislate on this sensitive matter.”
Under the proposed law, groups could apply for a temporary derogation for festivals or other special events. The legislation does not apply to headscarves, but will make it illegal to wear any garment concealing the whole face or making it unrecognisable.
The ban would be imposed in streets, public gardens, sports grounds and buildings “meant for public use or to provide services” to the public, according to draft bill.
Isabelle Praile, vice-president of the Muslim Executive of Belgium, warned that the move could set a dangerous precedent.
“Today it is the full-face veil, tomorrow the veil, the day after it will be Sikh turbans and then perhaps it will be mini skirts,” she said.
“The wearing of a full-face veil is part of the individual freedoms” protected by international rights laws, she added.
While few women in Belgium wear a face-covering garment, tensions have been heightened after a prominent burqa-wearer, Malika El Aroub, was arrested along with 13 others in 2008 in connection with an alleged suicide attack plot. The arrests came on the day of an EU summit although the police did not confirm the suspected target.
Ms El Aroub, whose first husband was killed in Afghanistan after he assassinated an anti-Taleban leader, became well-known for running a jihadist website from her home in Brussels and is currently on trial for allegedly trying to recruit fighters for Afghanistan.
A Muslim maths teacher has been given until the middle of next week to return to her classroom after a lengthy court battle to stop her wearing a veil at work.
In June last year, a Belgian MP of Turkish origin was sworn in at the Brussels regional parliament wearing an Islamic headscarf in a first for the country.
In France, the Council of State, the nation’s highest administrative body, has warned that a prohibition on full-body Islamic veils in public risked being found unconstitutional. President Sarkozy said last year that such clothing was “not welcome” in France and last week repeated his intention to ban it.