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U.K. law to check forced marriages

LONDON: Allegations of forced marriages among immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, especially those from Pakistan and Bangladesh, have prompted the government to bar teenage brides and bridegrooms from entering the country, and to raise the minimum age for marriage visa from 18 to 21.

A British citizen going abroad with the intention of marrying would be required to declare it before leaving the U.K. The new rules, which would affect only immigrants from outside the E.U., are expected to come into force by the year-end.

The Home Office described them as part of a “crackdown” on forced marriages. It said statistics showed 30 per cent of cases dealt with by the government’s Forced Marriage Unit involved victims aged between 18 and 21. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the government was determined to “stamp out” the scourge. “Forced marriage leads to victims suffering years of physical and mental abuse and — in extreme cases — unlawful imprisonment and rape. It has no place in our society. That is why the government is determined to do everything it can to stamp it out and to ensure that victims receive the help and support they need. That is why we are raising the age limit for visas, checking anyone entering into a marriage does so of their own free will, and demanding that those coming to the U.K. learn English,” she said.

In a major concession, the government dropped a plan to force prospective immigrants to pass an English-language test before being given a visa. Instead, they would now be required to sign an agreement to learn English as soon as they arrived.

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