Both ends of the political spectrum in Norway seem to agree on a proposal to prohibit marriage between what Norwegians call søskenbarn, the children of brothers and sisters. The conservative Progress Party and the Labour Party support a ban and will move the proposal forward in Parliament.
Norway’s own royal family has earlier engaged in marriage between cousins, but it’s long been viewed as having health consequences for the children of such marriages. Now it’s also viewed as a means of furthering social control within new generations of children of immigrant families. Norwegian authorities worry especially that daughters of even second- and third-generation immigrants from Pakistan, for example, are often forced into arranged marriages with cousins in Pakistan that also would enable the Pakistani spouse to emigrate to Norway.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the liberal think tank Agenda in Oslo and the LIM organization promoting equality, integration and diversity recommend a ban on marriage between cousins, but mostly because the children of cousins have higher chances of developing illness and deformities.
newsinenglish.no staff
