Australia to enact law asking Muslim women to remove veil if demanded by police

Muslim women wearing burqa may have to remove the veil when demanded by the police or face arrest in the Australian state of Victoria, on the heels of a similar law enacted in New South Wales.

"Victorian police have the power to demand that Muslim women remove face veils," the state government has ruled, with the police minister Peter Ryan saying that anyone who refuses to show their face can be arrested.

The Victorian government led by Ted Baillieu sought legal advice in July following a move by the New South Wales to introduce special law for veiled women drivers, the Herald Sun reported.

The authorities were told the state police were already empowered to issue such an order and the paper said that the ruling means Victorian police may make the demand of motorists when checking licenses of those suspected of crime.

"The Victorian government has decided that the current laws are adequate and there is no current need for proposed changes to legislation," spokeswoman Justine Sywak said.

However, she said, the state government would monitor the NSW legislation once it comes into effect.

A law banning women from wearing veils that cover their faces in public is also in force in European countries like France, Belgium, Italy and parts of Spain.