VIENNA: Austria's ban on headscarves for under-14s faces an initial test on Monday as schools reopen in Vienna and other states, with groups including the country's main Muslim organisation denouncing it as discriminatory and legal challenges likely.
Austria's ruling coalition of three centrist parties proposed the ban in schools, arguing it was acting to protect girls' freedom. The legislation was passed in parliament in December with the support of the far-right Freedom Party. Only the smallest party in parliament, the left-wing Greens, opposed it.
The group that formally represents Austria's Muslims, the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGO), has said the move was an infringement of fundamental rights, pledging to fight it before the Constitutional Court, which rejected challenges in July because the legislation had not yet gone into force.
Asked by national broadcaster ORF if the court would overturn the new ban, Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr said: "You can never be completely certain." Left-wing pupils' organisations have called for protests as the new school year starts across several states.