PARIS — A police union says three Arab women who refused to remove their face veils at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport have been barred entry to France.

A 2011 French law bans people from wearing Islamic face-covering veils anywhere in public.

An official with the SGP-FO police union said Tuesday that border police asked the women to remove their veils after they arrived Monday on a flight from Doha, Qatar. The official says the women refused, border police refused them entry in France, and they returned to Doha Monday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly for the police.

Supporters of the ban say the veil contradicts France’s principles of secularism and women’s rights. Some Muslim groups say it stigmatizes moderate Muslims. — AP