Full-body swimsuits, known as "burkinis," can be helpful in integrating Muslim girls into German schools by allowing them to take part in swim classes, Franziska Giffey said on Sunday.
"The most important thing is the well-being of the children and that includes being able to swim," she said at an event on Sunday.
The Social Democrat family minister, who was district mayor in the immigrant-heavy Berlin borough of Neukölln before switching to the federal level, said it was entirely justifiable for schools to not only allow the garment to be worn in class but to lend them to students who would otherwise not be allowed to participate.
Fellow Cabinet member, conservative Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner, disagreed, saying that the burkini — which covers the whole body apart from the hands, feet and face — cemented a "misogynistic understanding in a place where children and teenagers are supposed to learn the opposite." [Deutsche Welle] Read more
