The French government has refused to grant citizenship¹ to a foreign national on the grounds that he forced his wife to wear the full Islamic veil.

法国政府拒绝向一位外国公民授予公民身份，由于他强迫他的妻子穿戴全罩式穆斯林面纱。

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The full-face covering has inflamed passions in France

The man, whose current nationality was not given, needed citizenship to settle in the country with his French wife.

But Immigration Minister Eric Besson said this was being refused because he was depriving丧失，剥夺 his wife of the liberty to come and go with her face uncovered.

Last week, a parliamentary committee proposed a partial局部的，不公平的 ban on full veils.

It also recommended that anyone showing visible signs of "radical³激进的，根本的 religious practice" be refused residence permits and citizenship.

'Integration⁴'

In a statement, Mr Besson said he had signed a decree法令，判决 on Tuesday rejecting a man's citizenship application after it emerged that he had ordered his wife to cover herself with a head-to-toe veil.

"It became apparent during the regulation investigation⁵ and the prior interview that this person was compelling强迫 his wife to wear the all-covering veil, depriving her of the freedom to come and go with her face uncovered, and rejected the principles of secularism世俗主义，现世主义 and equality between men and women," he said.

Later, the minister stressed that French law required anyone seeking naturalisation归化，移入 to demonstrate their desire for integration综合，集成.

Mr Besson's decree has now been sent to Prime Minister Francois Fillon for approval.

The interior ministry⁷ says only 1,900 women wear full veils in France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.

In 2008, a French court denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman on the grounds that her "radical" practice of Islam was incompatible⁸ with与……不相容 French values.