French police warned not to arrest Muslim women covering up near mosques as country prepares for 'burka ban'

Police in France have been warned not to arrest any women wearing Muslim veils ‘in or around’ mosques.

The strict instructions, from Interior Minister Claude Guent, are contained in a nine page circular issued to officers prior to a full-blown burka ban coming into force next week.

With tensions running high within the country’s six million strong Muslim community, people have already been warned not to perform ‘citizen’s de-veilings’.

This means that members of the public will not be allowed to take the law into their own hands when they see a woman hiding her features in a public place.

Instead they will have to call the police, who will in turn consider whether the offender should be fined 150 euros, or around 132 pounds.

This will apply to all garments which cover the eyes, although scarves, hats, and sunglasses are excluded.

As well as a mosque, Muslims will also be able to put on a veil in the privacy of their own homes, a hotel room, or even a car, as long as they are not driving.

Police have already complained that they will have to waste time on ‘burka-chasing’, with Denis Jacob, of the Alliance police union, adding: ‘We have more important matters to be dealing with.’

The new ban, which will come into effect on April 11, will mean France is officially the second country in Europe, after Belgium, to introduce a full ban on a garment which immigration minister Eric Besson has called a ‘walking coffin.’

While women face the fines and ‘civic duty’ guidance if they break the law, men who force their wives or daughters to wear burkas will face up to a year in prison, and fines of up to 25,000 pounds.

An Interior Ministry source said: ‘The areas in and around mosques will be exempt from the ban.

‘The aim of this new law is not to cause humiliation, or even persecution. It is to make sure that people do not cover their faces in public in a manner which will upset others.’

Posters have already gone up in town halls across France reading: ‘The Republic lives with its face uncovered.’

Belgium introduced a full ban last year, while one also looks likely in Holland, Spain and Switzerland.

There are no plans to introduce a similar ban in Britain, although politicians from the UK Independence Party and some Tory backbenchers have suggested one.