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New York – British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that his government will begin to deport Muslim women immigrants who have not learned English after two and a half years of living in the United Kingdom.
The British government announced a plan to facilitate the teaching of the kingdom’s official language to the hundreds of thousands of Muslim women residing in the U.K., according to a report by Spain’s 20 Minutes.
According to the British government’s official statistics, there are nearly 190,000 Muslim women in England who speak little to no English.
Prime Minister Cameron told the press that the incentive aims at better integrating Muslim women into British society, promotes unity and helps combat extremism.
The same source noted that the new measure to teach Muslim women English across the U.K. will cost approximately € 26 million and is due to take effect in October.
The British leader said that this should not be seen as a punishment to “people who do not speak English” but as a matter to denounce Muslim men who do not allow their wives to study, work and interact socially.
According to the Times newspaper, the Prime Minister had previously pointed out that a minority of Muslim men have “bad control” over their wives who suffer discrimination and social isolation.
“This is happening in our country and is not acceptable. We should be very proud of our values, our liberalism, our tolerance,” PM Cameron said on Tuesday during an interview with BBC Radio 4.
He highlighted that the U.K. has “one of the most multiethnic democracies with many faiths of the world” and that immigrants who want to live there “also have responsibilities.”
Currently, British law dictates that the wives of Muslim immigrants who come to the U.K. with a valid marriage visa must demonstrate they speak basic English after five years.
However, with the new measure, the allotted time will be shortened by half and if their English skills have not improved, Muslim women will risk deportation, the same source noted.
“When people come with a marriage visa, they should improve their English after two and a half years and we will check, and this is important,” Cameron stressed.
Former President of the Conservative Party and First Muslim Minister in Cameron Cabinet in the previous legislature, Sayeeda Warsi, criticized the Prime Minister’s new measure targeting Muslim women.
“Why should it just be Muslim women who have the opportunity to learn English? Why not anyone who lives in the UK and can’t speak English?” Warsi questioned via Twitter.
And why should it just be Muslim women who have the opportunity to learn English? Why not anyone who lives in the UK and can’t speak English
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) January 18, 2016
