Universities in the conservative Muslim kingdom have been ordered to ban students sporting emo clothing and hairstyles, after an official investigation concluded that this subculture is "improper and deviant," reported the newspaper Al Sharq.

The paper added that female students dressed in boyish styles were to be barred too.

The phenomenon of emo – short for emotional – began as a style of music characterised by expressive lyrics in the mid-1980s. The trend is characterized by skinny black jeans, radical hairdos and sometimes-heavy make up.

The country's morality police have been told to be on the lookout for emos and tomboys in public places, according to the report. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, have seen the phenomenon at some point.

Emo fashion-followers have been arrested and condemned as "disciples of Satan" or as homosexuals in some Middle Eastern countries.