AFP, The Hague :
Dutch lawmakers have voiced opposition to a proposal by Amsterdam’s top police official to consider allowing female Muslim agents to wear headscarves, Dutch media reported Friday.
At least six major political parties are against plans from Commissioner Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg to introduce Islamic headscarfves to women’s uniforms as part of a recruitment drive to diversify law enforcement in the Dutch capital.
Aalbersberg on Thursday said he wanted to boost multiculturalism among Amsterdam’s police, saying he wanted at least half of all new recruits in the tourist hotspot to come from a non-Dutch background.
His proposal also included allowing police officers to wear religious symbols such as crosses, Jewish yarmulkes or Islamic headscarfves.
“Amsterdam’s population is changing in terms of its make-up. It has to be debated,” he told the daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad in an interview.
Aalbersberg said 52 percent of Amsterdam’s residents were from a non-Dutch background, but that was not reflected in the composition of the city’s police force, in which only 18 percent of officers have more diverse roots.
Dutch lawmakers have voiced opposition to a proposal by Amsterdam’s top police official to consider allowing female Muslim agents to wear headscarves, Dutch media reported Friday.
At least six major political parties are against plans from Commissioner Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg to introduce Islamic headscarfves to women’s uniforms as part of a recruitment drive to diversify law enforcement in the Dutch capital.
Aalbersberg on Thursday said he wanted to boost multiculturalism among Amsterdam’s police, saying he wanted at least half of all new recruits in the tourist hotspot to come from a non-Dutch background.
His proposal also included allowing police officers to wear religious symbols such as crosses, Jewish yarmulkes or Islamic headscarfves.
“Amsterdam’s population is changing in terms of its make-up. It has to be debated,” he told the daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad in an interview.
Aalbersberg said 52 percent of Amsterdam’s residents were from a non-Dutch background, but that was not reflected in the composition of the city’s police force, in which only 18 percent of officers have more diverse roots.
