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Rabat - Canada’s conservative government is moving forward to ratify a new law that will ban the entry of migrants who practice polygamy with. The law aims to protect immigrant women from cultural and gender-based violence, according to Canadian media.
Announcing the new bill, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said on Wednesday that Canada is strengthening its laws “to protect Canadians and newcomers to Canada from barbaric cultural practices.’’
The new bill, dubbed the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act will also prohibit practices which are incompatible with Canadian values, such as forced or underage marriage.
If it becomes law, “the bill would eliminate early and forced marriages from Canada's immigration system and the country as a whole,’’ said Alexander.
The French Press Agency (AFP) quoted Chris Alexander as saying that Canada’s government “is sending a strong message to those in Canada and those who wish to come to Canada that we will not tolerate cultural traditions in Canada that deprive individuals of their human rights.”
This new bill comes at a time after which several men from the Middle East in Canada were involved in honor killing crimes. Chris Alexander referred to such cases as “nothing more than murders,” and said that the bill will ensure that perpetrators will not be able to justify such crimes based on cultural differences.
An internal government briefing note obtained by CBC news suggests, however, that the “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act” might not go over so well in some Arab and African countries.
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