PHOTO: AFP
The police are issuing written warnings as more and more people from countries where burqa and niqab are permitted, such as Switzerland, are travelling to France to visit the mountain region.
Read: Pregnant Muslim woman in France attacked for wearing headscarf
"This isn't a question of stigmatising or 'burqa hunting', rather about informing people that French law prohibits people from concealing their faces for reasons of safety," police commissioner Alain Favre said, while speaking to Swiss newspaper Le Temps.
He further added, “We have to be able to identify any one person.”
The authorities are handing out leaflets in both English and French to those wearing veils after the locals in the beautiful town of Annecy complained to the police that they had spotted many people with their faces covered. Anyone found breaking the law could be fined 106 pound sterling.
In 2011, the French government prohibited ‘concealment of the face in public space’ in order to ensure public safety.
Read: French Muslim girl banned from class for wearing long skirt
The tourist office describes Annecy, which is known as the Vencie of the Alps, as 'tucked away at the edge of the lake with a mountain backdrop, renowned for its wonderful environment and high quality of life. It has retained its architectural and historic heritage, restored its old quarter, restored the lake water’s transparency through work which is often held up as an example and developed its canals to which it owes its name of the 'Venice of the Alps.'
This article originally appeared on Daily Mail.
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