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.
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