The recent media reports on the forced marriages among the South Asian nationals, living in the UK has sparked mixed reaction from the British-Bangladeshi community.
Charities working with victims of forced marriage accused the UK government of “turning a blind eye” to the exploitation of British women, which the Home Office “categorically denied”.
An investigation by The Times newspaper found that dozens of women who were sent overseas to mostly South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and India to marry tried to block visas for their new “husbands”.
However, according to records uncovered by the newspaper, of the 88 cases in which victims wanted to block visas, 42 were still granted by the Home Office despite attempts to prevent them.
According to the UK government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), the four countries with the highest number of cases of British nationals being forced into a marriage against their will last year were Pakistan (439), Bangladesh (129), Somalia (91) and India (82).
On Jul 30, A British-Bangladeshi couple was jailed for tricking their teenage daughter into travelling to Bangladesh in an attempt to force her to marry her first cousin.
A judge at Leeds Crown Court sentenced the father to four and a half years and the mother to three and a half years in jail.
During a three-week trial, a jury heard that in 2016 the couple’s daughter, then 18, was taken out of college during term time for what she thought was a six-week holiday to Bangladesh to see family and celebrate Eid, reports the Guardian.
Bengali community leader KM Abu Taher described the incident a “shame” for the British-Bangladeshis.
London resident Sayeda Naznin Sultana Shikha, however, said that forced marriage is a problem for the Pakistani community in the UK. “Sometimes, facts have been exaggerated,” she claimed.
Allegation on forced marriage surfaced sometimes; it, however, has decreased over the last decade, said Sheikh Wahid Rahman.
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid has pledged to do more to fight forced marriages in the UK, a practice he described as “despicable, inhumane” and “uncivilised” which had no place in British society, reports BBC.
"We will be doing more to combat it and support victims. Those who force British women into marriage, be warned that we are redoubling our efforts to make sure you pay for your crimes," BBC quoted Javid.
"Despite excellent (UK) Government work since 2010, more needs to be done” combating forced marriage, said Javid.