On June 30, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed into law a bill making face coverings illegal in public spaces. The legislation bans masks as well as several types of Islamic veils, including the burqa and niqab. With this move, Kazakhstan becomes the last Central Asian state to effectively prohibit face coverings in public.
The new law follows a 2023 ban on the hijab in schools, raising questions about whether the measures are aimed specifically at devout Muslims. While state communication has avoided directly linking the law to religion, officials have framed it as part of broader efforts to improve security.
Kazakhstan recently began testing a facial recognition system connected to its network of more than 1.3 million surveillance cameras. Authorities argue that covered faces hinder the system’s ability to identify suspects and prevent crime. However, in practice, these goals and religious regulation appear increasingly intertwined. Religious headwear, particularly veils, have come to be seen by some in government as a challenge to Kazakhstan’s secular identity and, by extension, to national security.
Exceptions to the new law have already been outlined, but religious expression is not among them.
More than 70 percent of Kazakhs identify as Muslim, but for many, Islam is practiced in a cultural sense rather than as a devout religious form. Practices such as praying five times a day or allowing girls to wear headscarves are often considered “too religious,” especially if they deviate from local customs.
While Kazakhstan has deep Islamic roots, face veils have not traditionally been part of Kazakh women’s dress. Instead, scarves and hats were used to cover the head or hair, but not the face. Many of these garments fell out of use during the Soviet era and have not regained widespread popularity, even as classic Islamic veils have gradually become more common since the early 2000s.
Authorities have long viewed face coverings with suspicion. As early as 2009, government ministers debated their presence in schools. While the issue periodically resurfaced in public discourse, no legal action was taken until the 2023 hijab ban. The move triggered widespread debate over personal clothing rights. In the Atyrau region alone, at least 150 schoolgirls reportedly stopped attending class in protest.
While initial focus was on school settings, the visibility of veils in public spaces also drew increasing attention. Although officials emphasized there was no rush to legislate, security fears following attacks by radical Islamic groups in western Kazakhstan helped shift the political climate. The scrutiny extended not only to women’s veils but also to bearded men, who are often viewed with suspicion due to perceived links to radicalism.
Kazakhstan’s law is still new, and its effects remain to be seen. However, similar legislation passed in neighboring countries may offer a glimpse of what lies ahead.
The Kazakh law includes exceptions for medical purposes, extreme weather, sports, and the arts. In this respect, it closely resembles a law introduced in Uzbekistan in 2023, when it became the first Central Asian country to prohibit face coverings in public.
As in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan justified the ban by citing the country’s new facial recognition system. Offenders face fines ranging from $400 to $800. In practice, these penalties have mostly been applied to women in Islamic veils and bearded men. According to a 2024 investigation by Gazeta.uz, 789 individuals had been prosecuted for covering their faces – most of them women.
Tajikistan followed suit in 2024 with a similar law and a comparable penalty of around $700. Authorities have reportedly conducted multiple raids in public areas, targeting both veiled women and bearded men. While Turkmenistan has not passed a specific law banning face coverings, women are reportedly required to wear traditional Turkmen attire at work, and similar enforcement practices have been observed.
Kyrgyzstan, too, passed a ban on veils and face masks in February 2025, though the fine was set significantly lower at $230. While no fines have yet been reported, several police raids have taken place, mostly as a means of warning women about the new legislation.
Whether Kazakhstan’s face-covering ban will improve public safety remains unclear. What is more likely is that the law will create new tensions. With fines that may reach the equivalent of an average monthly salary, religious groups risk not only exclusion, but financial penalties as well.
While the intention may be to promote national security, the result could be a further deepening of cultural divisions.