Egypt, which has placed several restrictions in recent years on women wearing Islamic veils, is now drafting a law banning them outright from public institutions, according to the Independent.

It’s one of several African countries that seek to increase security by banning burqas.

The full-face veil, also known as a burqa or niqab, is worn by Islamic women and typically covers everything but the eyes. It has become common in Egypt which is about 88 percent Muslim and 10 percent Christian.

After Isamist terrorists killed more than 30 people in Chad’s capital in June, Chad’s government banned the burqa, the Economist reported.

Cameroon did the same in its northernmost region following suicide-bombings by people clad in burqas. Now the ban has been extended to five of Cameroon’s 10 provinces, including its two biggest cities. Niger’s government has banned the garment in Diffa, a southern region that has also been hit by Boko Haram. And late last year Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim, said that a ban even on the hijab, which shrouds a woman’s head and chest but leaves her face on show, may be necessary if bombings persist.

Covering women’s bodies from head to toe actually isn’t even an Islamic tradition — it’s a Jewish one, said Amna Nosseir, an Egyptian member of parliament and law professor at Al-Azhar University.

Nosseir backs the ban. The Quran calls for modest clothes and covered hair, but does not require facial covering, she said, according to the Independent.

Wearing the veil is a Jewish tradition that appeared in the Arabian Peninsula prior to Islam, Breibart reported.

In the past, Jewish and Arab tribes lived in close proximity and their cultures and customs became intertwined, Nosseir said, according to the Egypt Independent. “In the Talmud, if a woman leaves her house without her head and face covered, she is breaking Jewish religious law.”

Parliamentarians in the Egypt Support Coalition loyal to President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, said the push to ban the burqa is based on religious and security grounds, the Express reported.

A recent increase in militant attacks from Islamic extremists has raised security concerns.

“We are seeking to prohibit the appearance of masked faces in public,” said Alaa Abdul Moneim, a spokesman for the Egypt Support Coalition.

Wearing the niqab in public has raised concerns in the Egyptian streets, Nosseir said. “We seek to spread moderate Islam.”

In January, a court upheld a ban at top public university, Cairo University, that bans academic staff from wearing the burqa in classrooms. Students complained it was too difficult to communicate, the Express reported.

The lawsuit included 77 female faculty members, including some who do not wear the the burqa, according to Breitbart. They “joined the cause in solidarity with those the ban would harm.”

Just 10 women on the 22,000-strong Cairo University staff wear the veils, Nassar said.

In upholding the ban, the court said it helps public interest since banning it “protects the rights of students” and also prevents “entry of extremists and outsiders of the university.”

The university also banned nurses and doctors from wearing burqas in medical schools and teaching hospitals, arguing the ban protects patients’ rights.

In the October 2015 national election, women had to remove full body veils to vote, in the interest of identification, Breitbart reported.