Source: The Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1824918,00.html

On October 14, 2005 The Times reported, "A Dutch city is to cut benefits for unemployed Muslim women whose refusal to take off their burkas stops them getting jobs. Utrecht City Council voted for the measure the day after the Dutch Government announced plans to ban women wearing the burka in some public places as a security measure, and on the same day that Maria van der Hoeven, the Education Minister, urged a ban on burkas in schools. The burka, a traditional women’s dress in some Muslim societies, covers the entire body except the eyes. The sanctions also apply to women wearing a face-concealing veil, or niqab. Utrecht made the decision after two Muslim women receiving €550 (£380) a month in unemployment benefits told the jobcentre that they did not attend job interviews because no one would employ them because of their burkas, which they refused to remove."