Muslims welcome hijab law in Argentina

The administration of Cristina Fernandez has passed an historic legislation that allows Muslim women to wear hijab in public places without the fear of persecution. They can use photographs wearing headscarves for their national ID cards.


The new law seeks to promote freedom of religion and expression in the Latin American country, and help the Muslim community to integrate into the Argentinean society.

The Muslim community in Argentina has welcomed the news, especially seeing that in other places like France, governments are taking drastic measures to ban the Islamic headscarf in public places and schools.

While Argentina's Muslims - who make up about 2 per cent of the population - live in harmony and peace in the mostly Catholic society, they say sometimes it is hard to practice the religion, because of the way the media represents Islam and Muslims at large.

The government says it will enforce the law to the best of its ability and in collaboration with police forces, the judiciary and the business community.

Although Muslims are a minority here in Argentina, the government is making it a priority to make sure they're free to express their religion without discrimination.