UK launches crackdown on forced marriage

LONDON: Home Secretary Sajid Javid has announced tough new measures to put a stop to forced marriage.

It comes after official figures showed Birmingham and the West Midlands have the highest rate of forced marriages linked to Pakistan compared to anywhere else in the country, Coventry News reported.

Mr Javid, MP for Bromsgrove, said: “Forced marriage is an appalling crime that has no place in Britain, it is not compatible with British values and we will not tolerate it.”

“This range of measures will build on our work to protect those at risk of forced marriage, so everyone in Britain has the freedom to choose who they spend their lives with.

“Supporting victims will be at the very heart of these new proposals to give them confidence to speak out knowing the government is on their side.”

The Government is to launch a consultation on a range of measures including:

Adding an explicit reference to forced marriage in the immigration rules, to demonstrate that forced marriage is unacceptable in the UK. This make it easier to refuse entry where there is evidence that the marriage is forced.

Introducing a mandatory reporting duty for forced marriage, to encourage more reports to the police.

The Government will also ensure anonymous evidence of forced marriage can be admissible as closed evidence in the visa appeals process.

It means someone’s anonymity can be protected but their evidence can still be used to refuse a visa, and that this refusal withstands an appeal in court.

And there will be a communications campaign to raise awareness and understanding of forced marriage.

The campaign will highlight the many ways people are forced to marry. This will be complemented by a series of roadshows for frontlines professionals to promote the use of forced marriage protection orders.

The Office of National Statistics show that the West Midlands had the highest number of cases referred to the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) in the whole of the country.

There were 85 people who were given advice or support from the FMU in 2017, in the West Midlands., relating to the risk of forced marriages in Pakistan.

This is compared to 69 in the North West and 52 in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The ‘focus country’ is the country to which the forced marriage risk relates.

This could be the country where the forced marriage is due to take place, or the country that the spouse is currently residing in (or both).

Since 2005, the FMU have dealt with cases from over 90 countries. But Pakistan is the ‘focus country’ with the most-related cases.