France’s lower house of parliament will vote Tuesday on a bill that will strengthen government oversight of mosques and religious schools and the crackdown on polygamy and forced marriage, among other measures aimed at eradicating Islamic radicalism.
The bill is part of broader French efforts to fight extremism in recent years that took on new urgency after a teacher was beheaded in October and other attacks. President Emmanuel Macron says that efforts are also necessary to protect French values such as gender equality and secularism from invading fundamentalism in some communities.
But many French Muslims say the bill limits religious freedom and unfairly attacks them, and they say France already has enough laws to combat terrorist violence. Critics call the bill a political maneuver by Macron to win the support of conservative and far-right voters ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The bill is expected to win approval from the National Assembly, which is dominated by Macron’s centrist party, as well as the conservative-led Senate.
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