IMMIGRANTS - Britain says some customs intolerable

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Britain Says Some Immigrant Customs Intolerable December 09, 2001 02:21 AM ET Email this article Printer friendly version LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said Sunday racial prejudice must be eradicated but urged ethnic minorities to scrap customs such as enforced marriages that were intolerable to British society.

Home Secretary (interior minister) David Blunkett signaled in a newspaper interview that planned legislation by the Labor government envisaged immigrants having to learn English in order to obtain British citizenship.

"Enforced marriages and youngsters under the age of 16 being whistled away to the Indian subcontinent, genital mutilation and practices that might be acceptable in parts of Africa are unacceptable in Britain," Blunkett told the Independent on Sunday.

"We need to be clear we don't tolerate the intolerable under the guise of cultural difference," he said.

Blunkett was speaking before the publication Tuesday of reports into a series of race riots in several northern English towns earlier this year.

"We...recognize that racial prejudice is deep seated and we need to face it head on," he said.

"It is a two-way street (however). If we are going to have social cohesion we have got to develop a sense of (British) identity and a sense of belonging."

Blunkett said forthcoming legislation would be aimed at ensuring immigrants were properly equipped in order to be able to thrive in Britain.

"The Nationality and Immigration white paper will deal with the issue of how to ensure people have the tools to be part of that regeneration, including being able to obtain sufficient grasp of the English language for their own well-being and that of their children and grandchildren," he said.

Ethnic minorities make up about five percent of Britain's 57 million people.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2001


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