Bangladesh court upholds ban on Rohingya marriage

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Monday upheld a government ruling banning marriage between its citizens and refugees from Myanmar´s persecuted Rohingya minority, who have fled ethnic violence in the neighbouring country.

The High Court in Dhaka dismissed a legal challenge from a father whose son married a Rohingya teenager in a Muslim ceremony in September despite laws forbidding such unions.Marriages with Rohingya were banned in 2014 to try to prevent hundreds of thousands of refugees living in Bangladesh from seeking a back door to citizenship.

Babul Hossain, whose 26-year-old son ran away with his new wife after they married, questioned the legality of the ruling that threatens a seven-year jail term for any Bangladeshi who weds a Rohingya refugee. But the court rejected his plea and ordered he pay 100,000 taka ($1,200) in legal costs.