British Muslim lawyers have come up with an action plan to root out forced marriage in their community, in a report published on Thursday. The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal believes British Muslims must take matters into their own hands to tackle the “crisis” of forced marriages between British citizens and spouses from South Asia, often used as a back-door way for them to gain entry to Britain.
In its report, Liberation from Forced Marriages, the Mat claimed that more than 70 per cent of marriages in the Muslim community involving a foreign spouse have some element of coercion or force. The organisation also claimed young Muslims in Britain were alienated from mosques and “under siege” from older generations. Marriages without consent, or people refusing them, have led to suicides and honour killings in Britain, shocking a nation generally deemed to have successfully absorbed immigrant communities and practices.
The Mat has proposed a voluntary system whereby a British Muslim seeking to bring a foreign spouse into the country would provide testimony before a panel of Muslim judges.
If they are satisfied that the marriage was not forced, the Mat judges would provide a written statement which the Briton could use to support the foreign spouse’s application to settle in Britain. Without the declaration, immigration officers would be able to “draw such inferences deemed appropriate as to the status of the marriage,” the report said. “The initial idea is for the Muslim community to be able to deal with their own issues themselves,” an Mat spokesman said