British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has declared that Muslim women
who fail to learn English to a reasonable standard may face deportation
from Britain.
This came as his centre-right Conservatives
launched a £20 million ($28.5 million, 26 million euro) language fund
for women in isolated communities as part of a drive to build community
integration.
In an announcement on BBC radio on Monday, Cameron
also suggested that poor English skills can leave people more
susceptible to the messages of groups like Islamic State (IS).
He
said, “Immigration rules already force spouses to speak English before
they come to Britain to
live with their partners. Notwithstanding, they
would also face further tests after two and a half years in the country
to make sure their language skills were improving.
“You can’t
guarantee you will be able to stay if you are not improving your
language. People coming to our country, they have responsibilities too.”
Investigations
have reportedly revealed that Cameron’s government estimates that
around 190,000 Muslim women in England, about 22 percent speak little or
no English.
Cameron said that lack of language skills could make Muslims in Britain more vulnerable to the message of extremist groups.
“I
am not saying there is some sort of causal connection between not
speaking English and becoming an extremist, of course not,” he told BBC
radio.
“But if you are not able to speak English, not able to
integrate, you may find therefore you have challenges understanding what
your identity is and therefore you could be more susceptible to the
extremist message.”
Reacting to the Prime Minister’s comments
which drew criticism from Muslim groups and opposition parties, Mohammed
Shafiq, Chief Executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said, “David
Cameron and his Conservative government are once again using British
Muslims as a political football to score cheap points to appear tough.
Shafiq accused Cameron of ‘disgraceful stereotyping.’
Also,
Andy Burnham, home affairs spokesman for the main opposition Labour
party, accused Cameron of a ‘clumsy and simplistic approach’ which was
‘unfairly stigmatising a whole community.
Source: DailyPost.ng
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