Some private swimming pools in Moroccan hotels have banned women from wearing “burkinis”, which a minority of Muslims accept as a halal swim-suit to wear in a public place.
Several holiday resorts in the tourist city of Marrakesh have allegedly banned the burkini in their private pools, with many citing “hygiene reasons,” according to local news reports.
Khadija El Idrissi, Communication and Public Relations Director at Mazagan Beach and Golf Resort, denied an earlier statement that the resort proscribed the burkini.
“Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort had no involvement with such bans whatsoever. As a matter of fact, since the opening of the resort female clients in pool area dressed in burkini is a very familiar sight and has never been discouraged by us,” El Idrissi said in an email statement.
Local news websites have published posters used by the management of private swimming pools to inform users that the burkini is not allowed.
One posted in Morocco World News came in three languages and says “Burkini not allowed” and “Bathing suits mandatory.”
This is reportedly even the case if the burkini is made of special swimming material.
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Abdelaziz Aftati, an MP of the ruling “moderate” Islamist Justice and Development Party, sent a complaint to the Tourism Minister, Lahcen Haddad, after a woman wearing a burkini was reportedly banned from a swimming pool in al-Jadida, according to Morocco World News.
Aftati told the press that it is unacceptable to restrict people’s freedom and their beliefs, saying the move signified the “rudeness of the new colonization.”
In 2009 in France, a 35-year-old convert to Islam threatened legal action after she was evicted from a public pool for wearing a “burkini”.
