Court stops Muslim girls ‘being sent abroad for marriage’

Two Muslim girls have been stopped from travelling abroad in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in Northern Ireland, after a judge feared they were being sent for forced marriages.

High Court judge Mr Justice Stephens, sitting in Belfast, imposed a forced marriage protection order for the girls aged 12 and 14.

Mr Justice Stephens ruled on behalf of the children, identified as G and D, after the authorities claimed false documents were produced as part of a planned deception by their parents.

An unnamed Trust alleged a claim the girls were to be sent for several years’ education in Pakistan was a pretext for the real motive.

The judge ended wardship orders previously granted for the children and instead decided that a forced marriage protection order should be issued.

He said: "I find as a fact that there is a present real and substantial risk that G and D will be forced by their parents to marry against their wishes (...)