According to Associate Press,  French authorities have denied citizenship to a man who forced his French wife to wear a face-covering veil, saying he had rejected national values of secularism and gender equality. Little is known about the man denied citizenship or his wife, as neither have been identified. News reports said the man is a Moroccan citizen and a member of the hard-line Tabligh missionary movement.

 

Immigration Minister Eric Besson said Wednesday the decision was rooted in French law, which permits authorities to reject applicants who fail to respect national values.Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who has the final say, has pledged to approve Besson's order.

 

Besson's office said the man's application was rejected because officials had determined that he had deprived his wife of the freedom to go about with her face uncovered. "It was nearly a caricature because the person said: 'my wife will never be able to go out without the full veil; I don't believe in gender equality; women have inferior status; I will not respect the principles of the secular society,'" he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

 

Besson stressed that the decision does not mean the man will be deported, and he will be allowed to remain in France on his current long-term visa.

 

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