Sri Lanka Bans Face Covering in Publicfollowing Easter Sunday Terror Attack Monday April 29,2019

Sri Lanka has banned face coverings in public, following a spate of suicide attacks on Easter Sunday April 21,2019  that killed at least 250 people and injured hundreds.

President Maithripala Sirisena said he was using an emergency law to impose the restriction from Monday April 29,2019

Any face garment which "hinders identification" will be banned to ensure security, his office said. Muslim leaders criticised the move.

The niqab and burka - worn by Muslim women - were not specifically named.

The move is perceived as targeting those garments, however.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert eight days after Islamist attacks that hit churches and hotels

The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), the top body of Islamic scholars in Sri Lanka, said they supported a short-term ban on security grounds, but opposed any attempt to legislate against face veils.

"We have given guidance to the Muslim women to not to cover their faces in this emergency situation," ACJU assistant manager Farhan Faris said, after the scholars asked the government to drop plans for a law against the veils.

"If you make it a law, people will become emotional and this will bring another bad impact ... it is their religious right," he told

About 9.7 percent of Sri Lanka's roughly 22 million people are Muslim. Only a small minority of women, usually in Muslim areas, fully hide their faces.

Where else in the world have face coverings been banned?

Europe

France was the first European country to ban the full-face Islamic veil in public places, in 2011.
The ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights in July 2014.

A ban against a full-face veil led to protests in Denmark when it came into effect, in August 2018.

The law says that "anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public" will have to pay 1,000 krone (£118; $157), with fines 10 times higher for repeat offenders.

The Senate in the Netherlands passed a law in June 2018 banning face coverings in public buildings such as schools and hospitals, and on public transport. It does not apply on public streets.

In Germany it's illegal to have any face coverings while driving. Germany's lower house of parliament has also approved a partial ban for judges, civil servants and soldiers. Women wearing a full-face veil are also required to uncover their faces for identification purposes.

A ban on full-face veils in public spaces such as courts and schools came into force in Austria in October 2017.

A law banning the full-face veil came into effect in Belgium in July 2011. The law bans any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places such as parks and on the street.

A bill was passed in Norway in June 2018 banning clothing covering the face from being worn at educational institutions.

Bulgaria's parliament passed a bill in 2016 to fine and cut the benefits of women who cover their faces in public.

There are also some restrictions in Luxembourg, in specific public locations such as hospitals, courts and public buildings.

Some European countries have bans in specific cities or regions.

This includes Italy, where several towns have bans on face-covering veils, including Novara, run by the anti-immigration Northern League, which imposed its ban in 2010.

In Spain, the city of Barcelona announced a ban on face coverings in 2010, in some public spaces such as municipal offices, public markets and libraries.

Face veils are also banned in public areas in some regions of Switzerland.

Africa

In 2015, multiple suicide bombings by women wearing full-face veils in the region prompted full-face coverings to be banned in public places in Chad, Gabon, Cameroon's northern region, Niger's Diffa region and the Republic of Congo.

In Algeria, public officials have been banned from wearing full-face veils in the workplace since October 2018.