Country Facts

28/10/2008Dumping brides could become illegal

The Dutch government is going to get tougher with the dumping of immigrant women and children in their lands of origin.

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Deputy Justice Minister Nebahat Albayrak

Every year, dozens of women and girls are left behind in countries such as Morocco, Turkey or Egypt by their husbands or parents. In a parliamentary debate on the issue, Deputy Justice Minister Nebahat Albayrak (photo right) pledged to deal with the offenders.

In 2001, legislation designed to improve integration was introduced denying Dutch residence rights for the first three years to women brought to the Netherlands from abroad for marriage. Exceptions were made for women who were the victim of violence which was documented by a doctor and reported to the police.

Powerless

A foundation supporting returned migrants recorded 40 cases of wife dumping during holidays in 2006, and 36 women failed to return home to the Netherlands in 2007. Sometimes, men bring a new bride back to the Netherlands, using their wife's passport. The women are left behind without any rights. They have no papers, and their families are too ashamed to do anything about the situation.

Statement

Now politicians want to introduce measures to change all this. Labour MP Khadija Arib (pictured below) thinks that girls who are threatened with arranged marriages should be able to sign a statement voicing their opposition. The idea comes from Great Britain.

"I'm heartened to see how they are dealing with this kind of problem there. The government tries to get girls left behind back to Britain. Something like that should be possible in the Netherlands."

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