Germany Imports Child Marriage

by Soeren Kern • October 6, 2016 at 5:00 am

The true number of child marriages in Germany is believed to be much higher than the official statistics suggest because many are being concealed.
In May, an appeals court in Bamberg recognized the marriage of a 15-year-old Syrian girl to her 21-year-old cousin. The ruling effectively legalized Sharia child marriages in Germany.
"Religious or cultural justifications obscure the simple fact that older, perverse men are abusing young girls." — Rainer Wendt, head of the German police union.
"This is not a question of tolerance and openness, but a question of the protection of children and minors. We therefore need a clear rule: Assessing the marriageable age of a person ... will in the future always be determined by German law." — Bavarian Justice Minister Winfried Bausback.

Zeinab, a married 14-year-old girl refugee from Syria, lives in a tent-camp in Lebanon. Germany hosts many thousands of migrants and refugees from Syria, among whom are at least 664 married children. Under current law, German family courts have discretion to determine the validity of marriages concluded abroad by minors who are 14 or older. (Image source: World Vision UK video screenshot)

German authorities are debating the contours of a new law that would crack down on child marriages after it emerged that some 1,500 underage brides are now living in the country.

The married minors are among the more than one million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East who entered Germany in 2015.

The German Interior Ministry, responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, recently revealed that 1,475 married children are known to be living in Germany as of July 31, 2016 — including 361 children who are under the age of 14.

Most of the married children are from Syria (664), Afghanistan (157) and Iraq (100). Nearly 80% (1,152) are girls. The true number of child marriages in Germany is believed to be much than the official statistics suggest because many are being concealed.