Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cousin Marriage Debate in the Netherlands

I mentioned last night that the ill effects of cross-cousin marriage have become so obvious that even the Arab media are noticing the problem and talking about how harmful it is to the Arab gene pool.

But that was in Dubai. In the Netherlands, conditions are… well, different. The Dutch government has taken a look at the issue of cousin marriage, and determined that there may not be anything it can do about it. The European Convention on Human Rights protects everyone’s right to a “family life”, you see, and if that life includes marrying your close relatives, then why should the government interfere?

Or, more to the point, the Dutch authorities are worried that the EU court in Strasbourg will come down hard on them if they interfere with the marital proclivities of their increasingly vocal culturally-enriched minorities.

Here’s the story, as reported by Politiken:

Can Cousin Marriages be Banned?

NRC HANDELSBLAD: The Dutch government wants to prohibit marriages between cousins, but experts wonder if that is possible.

What if two cousins sleep together, have a baby and then want to get married. Is that allowed? What about this situation: a young Moroccan Dutch man marries his female cousin in Morocco and then brings her to the Netherlands. Is that permitted? Or rather: will that still be permitted in future?

According to Ashley Terlouw, professor of sociology of law at Radboud University in Nijmegen, it is doubtful whether such cases can be prohibited. Aside from the question of whether it is a good idea.

“Everyone’s right to a family life is protected in section 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. If the Netherlands does not respect that, the Court in Strasbourg will have something to say about it.”

Experts have responded with surprise — and some with shock — to the plan that Deputy Minister for Justice Nebahat Albayrak announced last week to ban marriages between cousins. It is one of the measures aimed at reducing the number of so-called import brides (and grooms).

Increase in import marriages

Detailed information on the ban and its enforcement is expected in a few weeks, but it is already clear that the ban will apply to everyone, not just ethnic minorities among whom most marriages between cousins take place. The ban will not be imposed with retroactive effect.

“It does not seem right to me to apply family law to migration policy,” said Terlouw. “Moreover it is a measure that affects more people than you want it to.” Nor will the ban necessarily bring about any decline in marriage migration. “The Netherlands cannot ban marriages in other countries and will have to recognise most cases. Added to this is the fact that it is certainly not the case that all foreign marriages are between cousins.”

A driving force behind the measure is the increase in the number of Dutch residents who ‘import’ a spouse from the country of their parents.

After years of decline, the number went up last year by thirty percent to 15,000. But the municipal records do not keep track of how many of these marriages involved cousins marrying each other.
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According to researchers from Leiden University, a quarter of Turks and Moroccans marry a relative. A European survey, which only looked at second-generation immigrants, indicated that just over eight percent of Turks and six percent of Moroccans reported they were married to a cousin.

Does Albayrak have her facts straight?

Albayrak said last week that marriage between cousins was prohibited in the past, but that is a stubborn misconception said Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute. Only since 1970 has the law permitted an uncle or aunt to marry their nephew or niece, but there has never been a ban on marriage between cousins, according to Van Poppel.

It seems as if Albayrak does not yet have all her facts straight, said Han Entzinger, professor of integration and migration studies at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

“I see that Moroccans and Turks are in fact bringing partners from abroad less frequently.” That is also due to the income requirement that the Netherlands has introduced. The partner here must now earn at least 120 percent of the minimum wage before he can bring a partner from abroad.

“Which incidentally has an adverse effect in that many young people stopped their college education to try and earn as much money as possible,” said Entzinger.

Proponents of a ban on marriage between cousins stress that they hope this ban will put a stop to forced marriages. Entzinger has serious doubts whether this goal will be achieved. He responds with questions: “What is defined as a forced marriage? Is an arranged marriage also forced? How many forced marriages actually take place? And how would such a ban be enforced?”

Health risks not significant

It seems as if politicians are seeking a new way to ban marriage between cousins. From 2003 there have been efforts to introduce the ban on grounds of health risks. This has failed time and again. Last year health minister Ab Klink decided that a ban would be disproportionate. Research has shown that parents who are related, including cousins, have a four percent chance of a child with a genetic defect. That risk is two percent for parents who are not related.

If politicians are really concerned about stopping forced marriages and preventing health risks, Albayrak should instead concentrate on better information provision, said the researchers. And on a harsh approach to those who impose forced marriages.


Hat tip: TB.

7 comments:

Zenster said...

The prohibition of consanguineous marriage is one of the simplest and easiest ways to create an Islam-unfriendly atmosphere that will encourage the departure of hard core fundamentalists who strictly adhere to such practices.

The elevated risk of birth defects and their concomitant burden upon respective health care systems alone presents sufficient justification for such a measure.

All immigration, marriage licenses and applications for family welfare should be accompanied by blood tests to determine whether a couple is too closely related. Those who test positive should be rejected or deported immediately.

Anonymous said...

Well, well, well.. that's rather good news...

What we have here is an open debate about inbred marriage with brides from the country of origin... an official plan to ban them... And all that coming form a minister whose name is Nebahat Albayrak, which does not sound very Dutch to me.

This scores not unfavorably on my personal scale for counter-djihad. Do we have to thank Geert Wilders for that ?

In order to provide a comparison point, I'll say that in France :

- The very fact that a large number of all marriages happening in the country occurs between a person of foreign origin and a bride imported from his former country (mostly in North Africa) is a very, very well kept secret.

Figures and analysis which show that do exist, but they are exceedingly difficult to locate, and you'll certainly won't find them exposed in mainstream media.

Only "racist", "fascist" and "far-right" websites can be relied upon to provide such data.

Actually, those marriages are a secret wrapped in a lie, because they register, in official statistics, as "mixed" marriages. Meaning the groom is French and the bride is foreign (or the other way round). But the "French" spouse actually has a foreign background.

Therefore, this high number of pseudo-mixed marriages is used by politicians, intellectuals and journalists to "prove" that immigrants asimilate well in the host country, whereas those figures actually prove the exact opposite.

This is one of the most disgustingly perverted manipulations in the propaganda war which is foisted upon France about immigration.

- The very notion that a) marriage between cousins is probably widespread among French muslims, b) it produces an inordinate number of babies with health problems, is totally and absolutely taboo.

The silence about that problem is deafening.

Just airing the notion would probably bring torrents of lawsuits for "racism" or "incitement to hatred" on the perpetrator. (Provided he had some media visibility, of course ; nobodies such as myself can -- for the time being -- propagate those truths in the virtual sandbox where we are still tolerated).

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

"Therefore, this high number of pseudo-mixed marriages is used by politicians, intellectuals and journalists to "prove" that immigrants asimilate well in the host country, whereas those figures actually prove the exact opposite."

It is such balloons we need to get popped on an official level so the traitors can't use lies like these against us anymore.

Anonymous said...

First cousin marriage isn't already illegal in the Netherlands? Color me surprised.

Here are cousin marriage laws in the US: http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/a/cousin.htm

bewick said...

First cousin marriage in the UK isn't illegal either and never has been!
Among the indigenous population it was and is rare. I remember well having a severe crush on a beautiful cousin 45 years ago. My parents made totally sure that I was under no illusion that the family would oppose.Likely because they knew that birth defects were a proven possibility.
Real publicly released medical research here in the UK reveals that birth defects are 3% in the general population but 13% amongst those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent.
Now my knowledge of genetics is rusty but I believe the problem increases the more the practice happens. May not happen with the first couple but does down the line.

Anonymous said...

even the Arab media are noticing the problem and talking about how harmful it is to the Arab gene pool.

Too late to do anything about it. These things take centuries to take effect. If the gene pool is damaged, it is too late to recover without unusual measures. One that comes to mind is for Arabs to re-start razias to capture Europeans.

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

They just have to wait a few more years. After they have taken over they can ship out europeans in any number they like.