Austria passes law banning full-face veil, distribution of Quran

VIENNA - Austria's parliament has passed a law to ban full-face veil in public spaces, besides outlawing the distribution of Koran (Quran).

Starting in October, women wearing garments that fully cover the face will have to face fines of 150 Euro ($A225).

The legislative package, which has been introduced for refugees and asylum seekers to make them suitable for Austria, forbids distributing the Koran and requires all migrants to Austria to participate in an integration year during which they would learn German and ethics.

It is not clear yet how the latest move by the Austria would affect people. The measure has been slammed by both political extremes, in some cases for not being tough enough.

A similar ban has been place in France and Belgium since 2011, the Netherlands introduced a partial ban in 2015, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, endorsed her party’s call to ban the full-face veil “wherever it is legally possible” last year.