The newly formed Austrian government, a coalition of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ), and NEOS, has agreed to introduce a hijab ban for girls under 14 in both public and private schools, starting February 2026.
This is not Austria’s first attempt; a similar 2019 ÖVP–FPÖ (Austrian Freedom Party) measure was struck down by the Constitutional Court for violating religious freedom and equality. Nevertheless, the government is back with a broader proposal, cloaked in the language of counter-extremism.
Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm called the hijab an “expression of extremist tendencies” linked to “radical Islam”, with a draft law expected this autumn, claiming without credible data, that 12,000 girls could be affected.
The unsustainable nature of the hijab ban might render it symbolic, a diversion from Austria’s budget crisis or a nod to far-right voters, with the victorious FPÖ watching from the side-lines. But in reality, the debate alone is a deliberate instrument of control, a calculated move in Austria’s “fight against political Islam”.
This hijab ban is not merely about law or policy or safeguarding young girls; it’s part of a state-led project designed to police, discipline, and criminalise Muslims at large.
Operation Luxor
The hijab ban cannot be seen in isolation. It is the latest move in Austria’s ongoing campaign against so-called political Islam, a campaign made brutally visible in 2020 with Operation Luxor. Heavily armed police raided more than 70 Muslim homes and institutions on trumped-up terrorism charges. No arrests were made, no convictions followed, yet the raids left lasting damage. The point, however, was not only legal: it was a show of force.
Press conferences and staged photo ops of then Interior Minister Karl Nehammer broadcast a clear warning: from now on, Muslims in Austria would be treated as a permanent security threat, their lives subjected to surveillance and control.
From this ideology arose a whole infrastructure: the state-funded Documentation Centre for Political Islam, the notorious ‘Islam Map’ publicly listing Muslim institutions, the Vienna Forum, an international conference framing Muslims as security threats, and an expanded countering violent extremism (CVE) and counter-terrorism apparatus. What began as far-right talking points migrated into the mainstream, embraced by centrist and liberal parties alike.
At its core, this agenda is a long-term project to erase the impact of Muslims and Islam on the social, cultural and political sphere in Austria.
Unlike the more overtly coercive and savage French model, Austria employs a “Hamster Wheel” approach: raids, administrative harassment, restrictive laws, and endless legal battles gradually wear communities down, as the Austrian state may lack the same legal and executive powers to enforce immediate, large-scale suppression.
The aim is not outright elimination, but the steady erosion of the right to express Islam, forcing Muslims to self-censor, withdraw, or align with state expectations.
What makes this repression particularly insidious is its invisibility: a mosque publicly banned from hosting a Palestine solidarity event is visible; one that quietly cancels out of fear leaves no trace. Yet the result is the same: silence.
This climate of quiet coercion clears the path for authoritarian laws and policies to be introduced, while a weary community is left struggling to mount meaningful, organised and collective resistance.
Controlling Muslims
Whether the hijab ban survives constitutional review is almost beside the point. By recycling the debate, the government secures a political win: it frames Muslim religious practice as inherently suspect, reshapes public perception, and signals that Islam has no place in Austria’s social or political fabric.
Indeed, the debate alone serves to discipline the community, forcing Muslims into defensive postures and pressuring them to conform to state-defined norms.
Targeting young girls is no accident. The claim that girls under 14 cannot “independently” decide to wear the hijab rests on a straw man: that families, imams, or community members are coercing them. This narrative erases girls’ agency, turns their bodies into arenas of state power, and places entire Muslim communities under suspicion. What looks like a debate over clothing is, in fact, a pretext for regulating and criminalising Muslim families and social networks.
The government’s reported “accompanying measures” make this intent unmistakable. Mandatory teacher reporting, surveillance of youth accused of acting as “moral guardians”, parental accountability, and the mobilisation of schools and welfare services all serve to enforce compliance.
CVE programs targeting young girls are framed as promoting “self-determined lives.” Yet, the reality is punitive: fines ranging from several hundred to over €1,000, and even the threat of two weeks’ imprisonment for parents, already expose a machinery of coercion.
The hijab ban is not about protecting children; it is a gendered CVE policy, instrumentalised as a gateway to regulating and punishing Muslim life, both in its most intimate and broader aspects, and must be understood not as an isolated measure but as part of a state-led Islamophobic ecosystem designed to surveil and control Islam and Muslims in Austria.
To dismiss the hijab ban as symbolic, temporary, or “cheap politics” is to underestimate its impact. Its danger lies in what it reveals about the state’s broader intentions.
This is a practical expansion of Austria’s CVE framework into everyday Muslim life. By criminalising ordinary religious practices under the guise of fighting “political Islam”, the state blurs the lines between faith, violence, and security, transforming routine acts of worship into perceived threats.
In effect, CVE logic seeps into the social fabric, institutionalising surveillance and control, making Muslim life a regulated and punishable domain. Recognising this is crucial: active vigilance and public oversight are required to stop a debate over clothing from undermining fundamental rights.
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Source: The New Arab
Author: Nehal Abdullah
