Far-right AfD demands ban on Muslim headscarves in German schools

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany on Monday renewed its call for a ban on Muslim headscarves in public schools, proposing that girls under 14 be prohibited from wearing them.

The AfD parliamentary group said Germany should follow neighboring Austria, where a new regulation taking effect next month bans Islamic head coverings in schools for girls under 14.

AfD lawmaker Kerstin Przygodda described reports that some Muslim communities in Austria plan to defy the ban as "alarming." She argued that Germany needs a similar measure to defend "Western values."

"While Germany's established parties — intoxicated by migration — shamelessly abandon the affected girls to their fate, the AfD parliamentary group calls for the introduction in Germany of the Austrian model banning headscarves for children in public educational institutions," Przygodda said.

An AfD attempt earlier this year to introduce a similar ban sparked a heated debate in parliament.

The proposal drew strong criticism from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union, its Social Democratic coalition partner and the opposition Greens.

Critics accused the AfD of distorting facts to fuel anti-Muslim sentiment and using the issue as a campaign tool ahead of state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on Sept. 6 and in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sept. 20.

They said the AfD's claims of widespread forced veiling in Muslim communities in Germany lack solid evidence.

Critics said most young girls who wear headscarves do so as a cultural practice, family tradition or personal choice rather than under coercion.