German Government Moves to Criminalize Forced Marriage

On Wednesday, Germany’s government agreed on new draft laws to criminalize forced marriages, a tradition that some Muslim immigrant families impose on their children. Berlin also moved toward implementing strict measures against immigrants who fail to integrate into German society.

The new legislation comes during a time of rising anti-immigration and anti-Islam tensions that are sweeping through Germany, stirring up fierce debate about the country’s multicultural makeup.

Under the new laws drawn up by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, forcing a person into marriage will be considered criminal behavior, punishable by up to five years in prison.

“Forced marriages are a serious problem in Germany,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, adding that the law would make clear that forced marriages are no longer “a tradition from olden times or different cultures that is … tolerable.”

With 4.3 million Muslims living in Germany, forced marriage is common, especially among Arabs and Turks. Although no official data is available, rights groups say that a growing number of young immigrants who were raised in Germany are rebelling against the tradition and opting to choose their own spouse.

The cabinet also took steps to punish immigrants in Germany who do not follow “integration courses” to help them assimilate into German society. Under the proposed law, if an immigrant applies to extend his stay in Germany, authorities will be obliged to verify whether he has followed such a course, learning the German language, values and laws. Failure to follow these courses would mean the applicant’s request could be denied.

“Europe has had its fill of pan-Islamism pushing aggressively across its borders,” Trumpet columnist Ron Fraser wrote October 18.

[T]he most obvious change in European society over the past year is in the mood rippling across the Continent in reaction to Muslim immigration. It is no more tangibly felt today than in Germany. … The old contest between two great religiously based cultures, Islam and Romish Christianity, is raising its head yet once again. The decades-long push of Islamic immigration into Europe is suddenly meeting overt resistance from European governments.

As Islam continues to push against Germany and the nations of Europe, we can expect Europe to react with increasing intensity. The initial reaction, as evidenced in the new laws proposed on Wednesday, is political and legislative. But it will eventually escalate into a full-scale war that will destroy pan-Islamism.

To understand more about this prophecy, read “Europe—Reacting to the Islamic Push.”