KUWAIT CITY, March 17: The Ministry of Interior of the State of Kuwait has issued a clarification regarding the ban on wearing the niqab or burqa while driving, stating that it is based on an old ministerial decision from 1984 and is not an active law. This comes in response to recent discussions on social media about violations related to wearing the niqab or burqa while driving.

The Ministry explained that the 1984 decision was introduced for security reasons. At the time, some women driving on public roads wore the burqa or niqab, which made it difficult to identify their facial features. This posed challenges for security personnel when verifying the identity of female drivers, especially in cases where drivers refused to reveal their faces despite having a photo on their driving license.

The Ministry emphasized that with the presence of female police officers today, the process of verifying the identities of female drivers has become much simpler and more efficient, eliminating previous complications.