The head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) was to meet Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Wednesday to discuss the burkini bans at the centre of a bitter row over Muslim integration.
The CFCM “is concerned over the direction the public debate is taking”, the president of the body, Anouar Kbibech, said in a statement calling for an urgent meeting with Mr. Cazeneuve.
Mr. Kbibech noted that a few days ago a woman was fined on a beach in Cannes while wearing a simple headscarf and accompanied by her children.
The CFCM said it was also worried about the photos that have emerged of a Muslim woman removing her tunic on a beach in Nice while surrounded by four police officers. The images, which have gone viral, have widely been interpreted as the woman being ordered to remove her tunic by police, although the circumstances remain unclear.
