France's Interior Minister Targets Immigrants Who Practise Polygamy
THE TELEGRAPH: France's lurch to the right * continued after Brice Hortefeux, the country's interior minister, called for immigrants who practise polygamy or female genital mutilation to have their citizenship withdrawn.

French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux. Photo: The Telegraph
Mr Hortefeux said there were "possibilities to have nationality withdrawn in the case of polygamy, genital mutilation and serious wrongdoing." In all cases the radical punishment would not just apply to immigrants, but also to those who have a foreign background, even if they were born in France.

It follows President Nicolas Sarkozy calling for all foreigners who attack police in the kind of riots which blighted Muslim housing estates earlier this month to also lose their nationality. >>> Peter Allen in Paris | Sunday, August 08, 2010

* What on earth is "right wing" about this? To me, it just seems like common sense. What IS 'The Telegraph' talking about? More of this is what we need. The UK should follow suit. Is 'The Telegraph' implying that standing up for one's own values is a "lurch to the right". If so, it is talking total bloody nonsense! – © Mark

British Girls Undergo Horror of Genital Mutilation Despite Tough Laws
THE OBSERVER: Female circumcision will be inflicted on up to 2,000 British schoolgirls during the summer holidays – leaving brutal physical and emotional scars. Yet there have been no prosecutions against the practice

Like any 12-year-old, Jamelia was excited at the prospect of a plane journey and a long summer holiday in the sun. An avid reader, she had filled her suitcases with books and was reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when her mother came for her. "She said, 'You know it's going to be today?' I didn't know exactly what it would entail but I knew something was going to be cut. I was made to believe it was genuinely part of our religion."

She went on: "I came to the living room and there were loads of women. I later found out it was to hold me down, they bring lots of women to hold the girl down. I thought I was going to be brave so I didn't really need that. I just lay down and I remember looking at the ceiling and staring at the fan.

"I don't remember screaming, I remember the ridiculous amount of pain, I remember the blood everywhere, one of the maids, I actually saw her pick up the bit of flesh that they cut away 'cause she was mopping up the blood. There was blood everywhere."

Some 500 to 2,000 British schoolgirls will be genitally mutilated over the summer holidays. Some will be taken abroad, others will be "cut" or circumcised and sewn closed here in the UK by women already living here or who are flown in and brought to "cutting parties" for a few girls at a time in a cost-saving exercise.

Then the girls will return to their schools and try to get on with their lives, scarred mentally and physically by female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that serves as a social and cultural bonding exercise and, among those who are stitched up, to ensure that chastity can be proved to a future husband. >>> Tracy McVeigh and Tara Sutton | Sunday, July 25, 2010

Watch video*: Survivors talk about the traumatic effect female genital mutilation has on their lives >>>

*WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS DISTRESSING AND DISTURBING IMAGES

Islamic Fundamentalism: Honour Killings Up by 40%
MAIL ONLINE: Police have seen 'honour' crime surge by 40 per cent due to rising fundamentalism, new figures show.

Honour-based violence, including crimes like murder, rape and kidnap has rocketed in London during the past year.

Reported instances of intimidation and attempts at forced marriage have also increased by 60 per cent.

A report into the scale of the problem by Scotland Yard found there were 161 honour-based incidents recorded in 2007-8, of which 93 were criminal offences.

But in 2008/9 the number of incidents had risen to 256, with 132 being criminal offences.

The latest figures indicate that the trend is continuing, with 211 incidents reported in the last six months until October, of which 129 were offences - more than double the number in the same period last year.

Police define honour crimes as offences motivated by a desire to protect the honour of a family or community.

Diana Nammi, of the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation, said the group is now dealing with four times more complaints relating to honour than two years ago.

She said: 'More women are coming forward. They are becoming more aware of their rights in the UK, that there is help available and they feel confident enough to report matters to the police.

'But I also think cases and violence are increasing.

'One reason is the rise in fundamentalism. The problem is increasing in communities around the UK.

'We are seeing a rise not only in honour killings, but also in female genital mutilation and polygamy.' Honour crime up by 40% due to rising fundamentalism >>> Rebecca Camber | Monday, December 07, 2009

British Police to Stage High-Profile Checks on Flights to African States in an Attempt to Stamp Out Female Genital Mutilation; 74,000 Women in the UK Have Been Mutilated
THE INDEPENDENT: Brian Brady reports on a police operation to protect more than 20,000 girls, some aged nine or younger, thought to be in danger of forced genital mutilation

Police are to stage high-profile checks on flights to a number of African states in an attempt to stop young girls being taken abroad to be forcibly mutilated with the consent of their parents.

Research commissioned by the Department of Health suggests that more than 20,000 British girls are at risk of being forced into the agonising procedure, where all or part of their external genitals are cut off and stitched up. Officers will question all adults taking girls on certain flights, believing it is their best chance of saving thousands of children from female genital mutilation at the hands of tribal "elders" called in by their own families.

Moves to tackle the culturally sensitive issue will come as ministers from several government departments struggle to stamp out the ancient tribal tradition amid evidence that thousands of British girls are at risk from a ritual that is supposed to mark their transition into womanhood. Female Circumcision: a Tradition Steeped in Blood >>> | June 22, 2008

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