A university in southern Ethiopia has imposed a ban on the wearing of niqab, barring more than 40 female students from entering its campus, APA can report on Monday.
A similar ban had been imposed in schools in Axum town, Tigray State in northern Ethiopia, prompting a protest by hundreds of Muslims in the region last week.
This time the ban was imposed by Dilla University, some 365 kilometers from Addis Ababa, in the South Nations Nationalities region of southern Ethiopia.
Niqab is the full face veil worn by Muslim women in public.
Some students told APA that the ban was imposed without prior notice and some female Muslim students have been forced to spend the daytime in nearby mosques.
The students said the issue escalated at the end of last week when more than 40 students were denied entry to the school compound for wearing niqabs. They said the school administration turned a deaf ear despite repeated requests from the students.
According to some students, the school had warned female Muslim students not to wear black masks or niqabs if they want to move freely on the premises of the university.
Ten days later a court had summoned five schools in the town of Axum to respond to accusations that they have barred Muslim students from attending classes while wearing niqabs.
In its preliminary ruling, the court suspended the directive prohibiting female Muslim students from wearing hijabs in schools, stating that it could result in “irreversible rights violations” against the affected students.
MG/as/APA