Burkas and balaclavas not welcome at Hanze

Hanze UAS has issued a protocol that sets out what action should be taken if people enter Hanze buildings wearing clothing that covers the face.

This has been prompted by the Face-Covering Clothing (Partial Ban) Act that came into force on 1 August 2019, but in practice almost nothing will change at Hanze, stated Henk Pijlman, chair of the Executive Board, this morning.

‘We have had a similar clothing regulation ever since 2008. It was in that year that we first encountered veiled students and we had to take a decision on whether that was desirable or not. At that time we decided that we couldn’t provide education to students whose face we couldn’t see.’ So why a new protocol now? ‘Because now it’s also forbidden by law to enter the buildings. Now you can no longer wear any face-covering clothing in and around buildings connected with education, healthcare and government.’

Please note that it’s not intended that just anyone can send veiled people away – this is a task for security staff. The protocol also explicitly states that incidents should be solved ‘preferably in a friendly manner’.