Syria's new Islamist-led government has decreed that women should wear burkinis or other swimwear that covers the body at public beaches and swimming pools, while permitting Western-style beachwear at private clubs and luxury hotels.
The tourism ministry's decision marks the first time the Damascus authorities have issued guidelines related to what women can wear since Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.
But it offered an exception for hotels classed as four stars or above, and for private beaches, pools and clubs, saying 'normal Western swimwear' was generally permitted, 'with adherence to public morals and within the limits of public taste'.
The new requirements were set out in a wider decree dated June 9 and which included public safety guidelines for beaches and swimming pools ahead of the summer.
It said that beach-goers and visitors to public pools should wear 'appropriate swimwear that respects public decency and the feelings of different segments of society', requiring 'more modest swimsuits' and specifying 'the burkini or swimming clothes that cover the body more'.
