British Muslim lawyers have criticised plans to vet marriages between UK nationals and overseas partners for signs of coercion as misguided and overly intrusive.


The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) claimed last week that more than 70% of marriages between UK citizens and nationals from the Asian sub-continent involved coercion.



The MAT proposed countering this by inviting UK citizens to appear voluntarily before a panel of Muslim judges and clerics and prove the marriage was genuine. If appropriate, the panel would then issue a certificate for the immigration authorities ratifying the marriage.



However, Kaveri Sharma, legal adviser at the Newham Asian Women's Project, said the proposals failed to address the root of the problem - ignorance. 'Children must be taught there is nothing in Islam, or other religions, that obliges them to marry against their will. They have every right to resist their family's emotional blackmail or threats.'



She added that the plan assumed forced marriages were a solely Muslim, rather than culture, issue. 'We have helped Sikhs, Hindus and even Christians from the sub-continent, as well as gypsies and other ethnic groups.'



Hajj Ahmad Thomson, barrister at Wynne Chambers in London and executive member of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, welcomed all attempts to prevent forced marriages. He cautioned however that 'exposing oneself to the scrutiny of strangers is intrusive and risks preventing genuine marriages.'



Professor Tariq Ramadan, Islamic scholar and academic, said the proposal underlined the Muslim community's stand against forced marriages, but questioned whether the 70% figure quoted by the MAT included 'the grey area' between arranged and forced marriage.



The MAT was unable to comment.



Jonathan Rayner