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Belgium's lower house of parliament has voted for a law that would ban women from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public.
The law would ban any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street. No-one voted against it.
The law now goes to the Senate, which is also expected to approve it. It would then become law by June or July.
The ban would be the first move of its kind in Europe.
Only around 30 women wear this kind of veil in Belgium, out of a Muslim population of around half a million.
The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says MPs backed the legislation on the grounds of security, to allow police to identify people.
Other MPs said that the full face veil was a symbol of the oppression of women, our correspondent says.
The ban would be imposed in all buildings or grounds that are "meant for public use or to provide services", including streets, parks and sports grounds.BBC Story
Maybe Bub can help here - are there only 30 women in Belgium who actually wear the Burkha?
Sounds like a poor use of legal time and effort when the actual numbers involved are absolutely miniscule. I'm pretty certain there are other ways Belgium could have tackled the problem more efficiently - and that's leaving aside the personal liberty issues.