Tongan Crown Prince Marries Second Cousin

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tongans have celebrated the royal wedding of the Crown Prince to his second-cousin but the marriage has raised concerns about the practice of marriages between close relatives.

The Pacific nation held a national holiday today for the lavish wedding of the 27-year-old prince, Tupouto’a ’Ukukalala, who is first in line to the throne, to 25-year-old Sinaitakala Fakafanua, who is 26th in line.

The celebrations, which included traditional offerings by commoners of roast pork, marked the end of a 100-day mourning period following the sudden death in March of the flamboyant monarch, King George V.

But the marriage — the first of a crown prince in 65 years – has been mired in controversy over the decision to continue the practice of marriage between cousins. » | Jonathan Pearlman in Sydney | Thursday, July 12, 2012

'Bradford Is Very Inbred'; High Risk of Birth Defects

MAIL ONLINE: Inbreeding among British Muslims is threatening the health of their children, a leading geneticist warned yesterday.

Professor Steve Jones, from University College London, said the common practice in Islamic communities for cousins to marry each other increased the risk of birth defects.

‘There may be some evidence that cousins marrying one another can be harmful,’ he told an audience at the Hay Festival.

‘We should be concerned about that as there can be a lot of hidden genetic damage. Children are much more likely to get two copies of a damaged gene.

‘Bradford is very inbred. There is a huge amount of cousins marrying each other there.’

Studies have shown that 55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins – and in Bradford, this rises to 75 per cent.

Other research has found that children of first cousins are ten times more likely to have recessive genetic disorders and face deafness, blindness and infant mortality.

But Prof Jones’s comments provoked anger among some Muslim groups yesterday. 'Bradford Is Very Inbred': Muslim outrage as professor warns first-cousin marriages increase risk of birth defects » | Tom Kelly | Monday, May 30, 2011

’Inbreeding’ a Big Problem among Muslim Community, Warn Ministers
TIMESONLINE: A government minister has warned that inbreeding among immigrants is causing a surge in birth defects - comments likely to spark a new row over the place of Muslims in British society.

Phil Woolas, an environment minister, said the culture of arranged marriages between first cousins was the “elephant in the room”. Woolas, a former race relations minister, said: “If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there’ll be a genetic problem.”

The minister, whose views were supported by medical experts this weekend, said: “The issue we need to debate is first cousin marriages, whereby a lot of arranged marriages are with first cousins, and that produces lots of genetic problems in terms of disability [in children].”

Woolas emphasised the practice did not extend to all Muslim communities but was confined mainly to families originating from rural Pakistan. However, up to half of all marriages within these communities are estimated to involve first cousins. Minister warns of ‘inbred’ Muslims >>> By Dipesh Gadher, Christopher Morgan and Jonathan Oliver

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