CNN —France will ban schoolchildren from wearing abayas ahead of the upcoming academic year, the government has said, the latest in a series of contentious restrictions in the country on clothing associated with Muslims. French Education Minister Gabriel Attal said the long, robe-like garments often worn by Muslim women wouldn’t be permitted in the nation’s schools from the new term, which starts in September. Last year lawmakers backed a ban on wearing the hijab and other “conspicuous religious symbols” in sports competitions. France’s earlier ban on the niqab – full-face veils worn by some Muslim women – violated the human rights of those who wore it, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said in 2018. Muslim women are pictured in a shopping mall in Nanterre, France, in July.

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Persons: Gabriel Attal, wouldn’t, ”, ” Attal, Danièle, Jean, Luc Mélenchon, ” Mélenchon, –, Romuald Meigneux, Sarah Alouane, Attal Organizations: CNN, French, “, TF1, United Nations Human Rights, & State Locations: France, Republic, Nanterre