LONDON // Muslim women who fail to learn English to a high enough standard could face deportation from Britain, prime minister David Cameron announced on Monday.
He also suggested that poor English skills can leave people “more susceptible” to the messages of groups like ISIL.
Mr Cameron’s comments came as his centre-right Conservatives launched a Dh104.9m (£20 million) language fund for women in isolated communities as part of a drive to build community integration.
Mr Cameron said while there was no direct causal link between poor English language skills and extremism, a lack of language skills could make Muslims in Britain more vulnerable to the message of extremist groups.
“I am not saying there is some sort of causal connection between not speaking English and becoming an extremist, of course not,” he told BBC radio.
“But if you are not able to speak English, not able to integrate, you may find therefore you have challenges understanding what your identity is and therefore you could be more susceptible to the extremist message.”
Immigration rules already force spouses to speak English before they come to Britain to live with their partners, but beginning in October, Britain will start testing those who come to the UK on a spousal visa.
Mr Cameron said they would face further tests after two and a half years in the country to make sure their language skills were improving.
“You can’t guarantee you will be able to stay if you are not improving your language,” he told BBC radio. “People coming to our country, they have responsibilities too.”
The government estimates that about 190,000 Muslim women in England — about 22 per cent — speak little or no English.
He said Britain needed to take on the “backward attitudes” of some men, who he said exerted damaging control over their wives, sisters and daughters.
“Someone can move to here with very basic English and there’s no requirement to improve it over time. We will change that. We will now say: if you don’t improve your fluency, that could affect your ability to stay in the UK,” Mr Cameron wrote in an article for The Times newspaper.
“This will help make it clear to those men who stop their partners from integrating that there are consequences.”
There are estimated to be around 2.7 million Muslims in England out of a total population of some 53 million.
His comments drew criticism from Muslim groups and opposition parties, and comes as Britain is tightening migration rules and applying them more vigorously in an attempt to reduce the number of people coming to the country.
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, which campaigns for better community relations, accused Mr Cameron of “disgraceful stereotyping”.
“David Cameron and his Conservative government are once again using British Muslims as a political football to score cheap points to appear tough,” he added.
Andy Burnham, home affairs spokesman for the main opposition Labour party, accused Mr Cameron of a “clumsy and simplistic approach” which was “unfairly stigmatising a whole community”.
“There is a real danger that it could end up driving further radicalisation, rather than tackling it,” Mr Burnham said. “The prime minister is right to talk about empowering women, but his emphasis should be on women of all faiths and none.”
* Agencies
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