Syria requires women to wear burkinis on public beaches
DAMASCUS, June 11 (Reuters) - Syria's Islamist-led government has decreed that women should wear burkinis or other swimwear that covers the body at public beaches and swimming pools, while permitting Western-style beachwear at private clubs and luxury hotels.
The tourism ministry decision issued this week marks the first time the Damascus authorities have issued guidelines related to what women can wear since Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.
During the Assad family's iron-fisted rule of Syria, which was shaped by a secular Arab nationalist ideology, the state imposed no such restrictions, though people often dressed modestly at public beaches, reflecting conservative norms.
The new requirements were set out in a wider decree dated June 9 and which included public safety guidelines for beaches and swimming pools ahead of the summer, such as not spending too long in the sun and avoiding jellyfish.
It said that beachgoers and visitors to public pools should wear "appropriate swimwear that respects public decency and the feelings of different segments of society", requiring "more modest swimsuits" and specifying "the burkini or swimming clothes that cover the body more".
Women should wear a cover or a loose robe over their swimwear when moving between the beach and other areas, it said.
Men should wear a shirt when not swimming, and are not allowed to appear bare-chested "in the public areas outside the swimming areas - hotel lobbies or ... restaurants", it said.
The decree added that "in public areas outside the beaches and swimming pools", it was preferable to wear loose clothing that covers the shoulders and knees and to avoid transparent or very tight clothing.
It offered an exception for hotels classed as four stars or above, and for private beaches, pools and clubs, saying "normal Western swimwear" was generally permitted, "with adherence to public morals and within the limits of public taste".
Since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew Assad, fliers have appeared urging women to cover up, but the government has issued no directives ordering them to observe conservative dress codes.
A temporary constitution passed earlier this year strengthened the language on the role of sharia (Islamic law) in Syria.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led an al Qaeda group before cutting ties with the jihadist network, has sidestepped interviewers' questions on whether he thought Syria should apply sharia, saying this was for experts to decide.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
EU imposes asset freeze, travel ban on five people tied to Syria's Assad
BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters) - The European Union imposed on Monday an asset freeze and a ban on travel to the EU on five people linked with toppled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for supporting crimes against humanity, including backing the use of chemical weapons against civilians and fuelling sectarian violence. The Council of the EU said the measures targeted three former members of the Syrian Republican Guard and Armed Forces responsible for human rights violations during Assad's rule, including torture and extrajudicial killings, and who were involved in a wave of violence that took place in March. Those affected also included two prominent businessmen who represented the Assad government's business and financial interests in Russia, which the EU says helped finance crimes against humanity.
Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
UN nuclear watchdog has limited oversight in Iran. Here's why
VIENNA, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which polices the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has not been able to carry out inspections in Iran since Israel launched military strikes on its nuclear facilities on June 13. Below is an outline of the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspection powers. No. The IAEA's oversight is limited to the 191 states that are signatories to the NPT, and other countries it has separate arrangements with. Iran is a party to the NPT and thus subject to IAEA oversight including inspections meant to ensure that no nuclear material such as uranium is "diverted" for use in atomic bombs. Israel is not a party to the NPT and is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not confirm or deny having them. It has a limited safeguards agreement with the IAEA that provides for the agency to oversee some materials and facilities - a fraction of what Israel has and not any of what is widely believed to be its nuclear weapons programme. Iran, by contrast, has a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) with the IAEA under which it must account for all its proliferation-sensitive nuclear material, including every gram of enriched uranium. No. It is largely restricted to inspecting Iran's declared nuclear installations as provided for by its 1974 CSA - sites such as the three uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow that were operating until Israel bombed them on June 13. It had regular access to those facilities until they were attacked. Since then, they have been "closed" and inspectors have not been allowed in, the IAEA has said, adding that it hopes its inspectors will return as soon as possible. Yes. A 2015 deal between Iran and major powers placed strict limits on Tehran's nuclear activities but also extended the IAEA's oversight to parts of Iran's nuclear programme not covered by the CSA, such as its production and stock of centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. It was the most comprehensive IAEA oversight of any country. Much of that additional oversight came from Iran agreeing, as part of the 2015 pact, to apply the Additional Protocol, an add-on to countries' CSAs that the IAEA developed to strengthen its hand in preventing nuclear proliferation. Iran has signed but never ratified the Additional Protocol. One of the most important extra tools the Additional Protocol gives the IAEA is the power to carry out snap inspections - short-notice access to locations including ones that Iran has not declared to be nuclear-related. In 2018, during his first term, President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal, reimposing U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted as part of the agreement. In retaliation, as of the following year, Iran began pushing past the deal's limits on its nuclear activities but also scaled back the extra IAEA oversight introduced by the deal. In February 2021 Iran said it would no longer carry out its extra commitments under the 2015 deal, including implementation of the Additional Protocol. It struck a deal with the IAEA to keep monitoring equipment like surveillance cameras added under the deal rolling, but ordered them all removed in June 2022. Reducing the IAEA's oversight not only took away the important tool of snap inspections. It also left blind spots in the areas to which extra oversight had been applied. The IAEA now says it has lost so-called "continuity of knowledge" for so many years that it will never be able to fully piece together what happened in areas including the production and inventory of centrifuges and certain key centrifuge parts, as well as Iran's stock of "yellowcake" - uranium that has not been enriched. The fact many centrifuges are unaccounted for means it cannot be ruled out that they will be used to enrich uranium in secret at an undeclared facility. Such a facility would be easy to hide in a relatively small building such as a warehouse. The IAEA says it cannot guarantee Iran's nuclear activity is entirely for peaceful purposes but it also has no credible indications of a coordinated nuclear weapons programme. Iran has threatened to pull out of the NPT, while at the same time saying it would not develop nuclear weapons if it did. Tehran has complained that the treaty and non-proliferation regime failed to protect it from attack by a country with a nuclear arsenals, the United States, and another widely believed to have one, Israel. The NPT allows for withdrawal by a party at three months' notice "if it decides that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this Treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country". The only country to announce its withdrawal from the NPT is North Korea in 2003, which expelled IAEA inspectors before testing nuclear weapons.
Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
Syria's Christians ask 'Why us?' after suicide bombing at Damascus church
DAMASCUS, June 23 (Reuters) - Syrian Christians were struggling on Monday to understand why their community was targeted in a suicide attack and whether they can rely on the Islamist-led government's assurances of protection. Syria's health ministry said the toll from Sunday's attack on the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood had risen to 25 dead and more than 60 wounded. The interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Islamic State who entered the church, opened fire and detonated an explosive vest. There was no claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group. On Monday, funeral announcements were posted on the door of the church. Members of the security forces stood outside it and other churches. "I wonder why they target us. We had no interest in any of the events that happened in our country. We have no interests besides Syria living in peace," said Bassim Khoury, a Christian resident of Damascus. "We did not carry weapons, we did not stand against anyone. We did not ask for government positions. None of us wants to become president, no one wants to run the government... Why would this happen to this peaceful people?" The attack fed fears among Syria's minorities that their communities are more exposed to attacks and harassment since Islamist-led rebels toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad in December. In March, hundreds of Alawites - the minority from which Assad hails - were killed in Syria's coastal provinces and dozens were kidnapped and killed in Damascus. In May, an armed raid on a Damascus nightclub and the killing of a woman at another venue led some bars to close. Christian residents of Damascus told Reuters that Muslim sheikhs had come to their neighbourhoods in the last six months to urge them to convert to Islam and to stop consuming alcohol. The violence has prompted questions about whether Syria's new rulers have full control over armed elements despite promises by Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa - formerly a member of Al Qaeda - to rule inclusively for all of the diverse religious and ethnic groups. "We're in a country that must protect everyone," said Jean Bahri, another Christian resident of Damascus. Nibras Youssef, from Dweila, said people has already been on edge over the security situation, in which armed men and boys who said they were official security force members produced no relevant identification papers. "You see a 13-year-old holding a weapon and you cannot say anything to them," said Youssef. Sharaa expressed his condolences, calling Sonday's attack a "criminal bombing that hurt the whole Syrian people". Several Syrian ministers, as well as church leaders and other foreign officials, condemned the attacks. Candlelit vigils and church services were held elsewhere in Syria in solidarity with the parishioners at Mar Elias.
