GUJRAT: A delegation of the UK High Commission, Islamabad, visited the office of the Jhelum district coordination officer (DCO) on Tuesday and stressed the need for joint efforts against forced marriages that lead to cases like parents-child abduction and abandoned spouses among UK nationals of Pakistani origin.

The delegation said the Forced Marriages Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, has so far received 672 complaints of forced marriages involving UK nationals of Pakistan origin belonging to Jhelum, Gujrat and Mirpur (Azad Jammu and Kashmir).

The delegation was led by Lucy Monaghan, Joint Head of Forced Marriages Unit, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London.

In the meeting, DCO Imran Raza Abbasi briefed the delegation on the efforts of the Facilitation Centre for Overseas Pakistanis, Jhelum, to resolve the problems of the overseas Pakistanis.

He assured the delegation of all-out efforts on the part of the district administration to eliminate forced marriages. He said the Overseas Pakistanis Facilitation Centre set up at the DCO Office had so far received 236 complaints since its establishment in June 2014.

The UK High Commission delegation comprised Simon Minshull, UK High Commission Consul, Emma Harber, second secretary in UK High Commission, and Neelam Farooq, senior consular officer.

Lucy Monaghan said there was a need to sensitise society on forced marriages.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2015

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