but the face veil was also alien to the vast majority of Muslim countries until recently, And i believe the term Burka relates to a full body covering, the jilbab being the body covering, the Hijarb being the head covering and the Niqab being the veil.
Lets not forget even the Hijab (just the head covering) is illegal in schools in not only France but Turkey too. And full face veils were unheard of in both Turkey and Egypt until recent years.
The fact the the face veil was not worn hardly anywhere (excluding Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran) until recently shows that, this garment is worn for 1 of 3 main reasons.
The extreme (Saudi version) of islam is on the rise.
The veil is worn as a badge of honour (Taliban sympathisers).
Another person forcing the person to wear it.