Third French town bans ‘burkini’ swimwear after tense clash

A village mayor in French seaside town of Cannes has directed the prohibition of full-body swimsuits known as “burkinis” after a beach brawl between families of North African descent and local youths.

Sisco joins the Riviera resorts of Cannes and Villeneuve-Loubet which banned the full-body swimsuits last week.

Police have launched an inquiry into the causes of the beach fighting, which saw three families of north African origin clash with a group of teenagers and their families.

A girl who witnessed Saturday’s clashes, speaking to Sunday’s rally through a megaphone, said they began after tourists took photos of several women bathing in burqinis.

According to the local deputy prosecutor, four people were taken to hospital for treatment, while bottles and stones were thrown at them, and three cars were set on fire.

The new ban in the Corsican village follows a fight on the beach on Saturday which was broken up by hundreds of riot police.

Ange-Pierre Vivoni is the latest French mayor to prohibit the swimwear, which is worn by some Muslim women, in the wake of Islamic extremist attacks this summer.

Anti-racism campaigners saying banning it amounts to discrimination against Muslims.

The question of Islamic dress has always been a hot-button issue in France, which was the first European country to ban the full-face veil in public places in 2010.

France has been under a state of emergency since ISIS members killed 130 people in Paris in November.

Mr Vivoni said: ‘It happened because a tourist was taking photos and the Maghrebins [North Africans] didn’t want to have their photos taken.

A series of incidents in Corsica have raised tensions in recent months between local Muslims and their neighbours. In December, a Muslim mosque had been sacked after an attack against firefighters in which several young people of North African origin were implicated.

Last month, a splinter group of the nationalist Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) warned Islamists that any attack on the island would trigger “a determined response, without any qualms”.

A 2004 law banned the wearing of religious attire in public schools, and since then, numerous French government’s prohibitions on public displays of religious belief have centered on Muslim women.