Director Científico do Observatório das Migrações, Pedro Góis, diz que os imigrantes devem ter prioridade na obtenção de casas, porque os cidadãos nacionais ainda podem ficar em casa dos seus pais mais alguns anos…
According to a confidential government report, the Muslim Brotherhood poses a long-term threat to France's national cohesion – not through violence, but by gradually eroding secular values at the local level. The Muslim Brotherhood movement is a "threat to national cohesion" in France and action must be taken to stop the spread of "political Islamism," according to a report to be presented to President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, May 21.
"The reality of this threat, even if it is long term and does not involve violent action, poses a risk of damage to the fabric of society and republican institutions (...) and, more broadly, to national cohesion," said the report, a copy of which was obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday. The report, prepared by two senior civil servants, is to be examined by the Defense Council on Wednesday.
France and Germany have the biggest Muslim populations among European Union countries. The report pointed to the spread of Islamism "from the bottom up" and at the municipal level, adding that the phenomenon constituted "a threat in the short to medium term." In France, the movement is "based on a solid structure, but political Islamism is spreading primarily at the local level," the authors stressed. "Resolute and long-term action on the ground seems necessary to stem the rise of political Islamism," they said.
The report highlighted the "subversive nature of the project," saying it aims "to gradually bring about changes to local or national rules," particularly those concerning secularism and gender equality. Such "municipal Islamism" risks affecting the public sphere and local politics, the report said, pointing to "the creation of increasingly numerous Islamist ecosystems."
France's conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed concern on Tuesday about "a low-level Islamism" whose "ultimate goal is to turn the entire French society to Sharia law." However, the report's authors said that "no recent document demonstrates the desire of Muslims in France to establish an Islamic state in France or to enforce Sharia law there."
Musulmans de France ("Muslims in France"), formerly the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, is identified as "the national branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in France." "We are not dealing with aggressive separatism" but a "subtle (...) yet no less subversive aim for the institutions," the authors said.
The report estimates that there are 139 places of worship affiliated with Muslims of France, with an additional 68 considered close to the federation. This represents 7% of the 2,800 Muslim places of worship listed in France, the report said. The Islamist movement is losing its influence in the Arab world and "focusing its efforts on Europe," it added. A public awareness campaign must be combined with renewed efforts to promote a "secular discourse" as well as "strong and positive signals to the Muslim community" including the teaching of Arabic, the report said.
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Nunca vi o xeque Munir participar numa cerimónia ecuménica. As comemorações do 10 de Junho não são ecuménicas, não ocorrem num espaço religioso. Já vi o taralhoco do Presidente da República, ajoelhado, numa cerimónia na Mesquita de Lisboa e a imitar os gestos dos muçulmanos em oração.
Nunca vi o xeque Munir ser convidado - e aceitar o convite - para uma cerimónia religiosa numa igreja. "Se começarmos a dividir uma nação em vários sistemas jurídicos étnicos e tribais, deixará de haver uma nação unificada.
Este é mais um exemplo do multiculturalismo a correr mal – e muito mal. Como Margaret Thatcher disse em 2002: 'Acolhemos aqueles que nos odiavam, tolerámos aqueles que nos ameaçavam e fomos indulgentes com aqueles que nos enfraqueciam.'
Os espanhóis têm um provérbio que se aplica a este tipo de situação e comportamentos: "Cria corbs i et menjaran els ulls", em catalão - "Cria corvos que eles te comerão os olhos."
Winston Churchill foi ainda mais contundente: "Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith."
Scientists say inbreeding is causing an unusually high number of genetic
mutations to spread in Pakistan, leading to disabilities in children of
consanguineous marriages. Still, this social custom persists. Ghafoor Hussain Shah is a 56-year-old teacher and father of eight children in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. According to tribal customs in Pakistan, Shah said he is expected to arrange the children's marriages within his extended family.
However, Shah knows about the potential risks of genetic disease prevalent in children from inter-family marriages. He married his maternal cousin in 1987, and three of their children suffer from disorders.
Shah told DW his son's brain did not develop to a normal size. One of his daughters has a speech disorder and another has hearing problems.
"My biggest regret is that they could not get education," he said. "I am always worried about them … who will look after them after my wife and I are gone?" he added.
Despite the risks of genetic disorders, Shah said there is enormous social pressure to adhere to customs calling for cousins to marry. Anyone who refuses to offer their children for marriage within the family risks being ostracized.
Shah said he had to marry off his one son and two daughters to close relatives. His family's medical history includes cases of blood disorders, learning disabilities, blindness and deafness. Doctors have said inbreeding could be to blame.
According to a 2017 report on genetic mutations in Pakistan, the "heterogenous composition" of Pakistan's population, including high levels of "consanguinity" has led to a prevalence of genetic disorders.
The report introduces a Pakistan "genetic mutation" database, which identifies and tracks different types of mutations and the disorders they lead to. According to the database, more than 1,000 mutations have been reported in 130 different kinds of genetic disorders found in Pakistan.
Huma Arshad Cheema, a pediatrician specializing in genetic disorders, told DW that Pakistan has a huge burden of generic disorders due to inbreeding.
She said specific disorders can be pinpointed to particular castes and tribes where inter-marriage is common.
One of the most common genetic disorders seen right now in Pakistan is the inherited blood disorder, Thalassemia, which keeps red blood cells from absorbing oxygen.
Genetic testing and pre-natal screenings for hereditary disorders are not widely available in Pakistan, Cheema said, adding that many health facilities also lack the capacity to treat genetic disorders.
Why do cousin marriages continue?
Karachi-based health expert Seraj ud Daulah said that the practice of cousin marriages in Pakistan can be traced to Islamic religious doctrines.
"I asked clerics to help create awareness about genetic diseases, asking them to explain to people how cousin marriages are contributing to the rise in genetic diseases," Daulah told DW.
However, he said the clerics he spoke with flatly refused, claiming that such marriages are in accordance with Islamic Sharia law and the traditions of the Prophet Mohammad.
Pakistan: Talk show on taboo topics rattles conservatives
Shah said many families in Pakistan go through with consanguineous marriages because they believe it is called for by their Islamic religion. Even if the government were to make such marriages illegal, it would be met with fierce resistance, he added.
Tribal and caste systems are deeply rooted in remote areas of Pakistan. Cheema said that the caste system, particularly among the Arain people living in Punjab province, is especially rigid and leads to many inter-family marriages. She said several genetic disorders are commonly found in this community.
In Pakistan's western province of Balochistan, the southern region of Sindh, and in the northwestern provinces, tribal systems dictate family life.
Ghulam Hussain Baloch, a resident of Balochistan, told DW that marrying outside of your tribe is considered a major social taboo. The situation in Sindh is not much different, where marriage outside one's clan or tribe could lead to murders and tribal clashes.
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In a busy, terraced house in Bradford, three sisters are animatedly chatting. It's a big day at their home: a beautician sits on their sofa, styling their hair and makeup. The room is warm with fun and laughter. It feels like a scene from a Jane Austen novel: three women in their late 20s, each of them bursting with personality, swapping stories.
And like most Austen novels, the conversation often turns to marriage.
The sisters are preparing for a family wedding at the weekend - where the bride and groom are first cousins. Many people might find this unusual, but in their family and in some parts of Bradford, it's fairly common.
Ayesha, who at 29 is the oldest of the three sisters, also married her first cousin in 2017. She has two children with her husband and their marriage is happy, she says. It felt perfectly normal at the time to marry her cousin. Their mother, a Pakistani migrant, assumed it was what all three of her daughters would do.
But 26-year-old Salina, the youngest of the three, tells us she broke the mould by having what they call a "love" marriage, choosing a partner from outside the family. Salina tells us she is outgoing and ambitious; marrying a cousin simply did not appeal to her. Then there's Mallika, who at 27 is the middle of the three. She's still single and has already decided not to marry within her family.
"I said to my mum that I wouldn't judge my sisters but I wasn't going to do it," Mallika tells us. She says having an education has created opportunities for her. "Before, even if you had an education, you wouldn't be expected to carry on with it. You would be thinking of marriage. Now the mindset is so different."
And there's now some new, potentially worrying data from Bradford to add into that mix.
Researchers at the city's university are entering their 18th year of the Born in Bradford study. It's one of the biggest medical trials of its kind: between 2007 and 2010, researchers recruited more than 13,000 babies in the city and then followed them closely from childhood into adolescence and now into early adulthood. More than one in six children in the study have parents who are first cousins, mostly from Bradford's Pakistani community, making it among the world's most valuable studies of the health impacts of cousin marriage.
And in data published in the last few months - and analysed in an upcoming episode of BBC Radio 4's Born in Bradford series - the researchers found that first cousin-parentage may have wider consequences than previously thought.
The most obvious way that a pair of blood-related parents might increase health risks for a child is through a recessive disorder, like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease. According to the classic theory of genetics laid out by the biologist Gregor Mendel, if both parents carry a recessive gene then there's a one in four chance that their child will inherit the condition. And when parents are cousins, they're more likely to both be carriers. A child of first cousins carries a 6% chance of inheriting a recessive disorder, compared to 3% for the general population.
But the Bradford study took a much broader view - and sheds fresh light. The researchers weren't just looking at whether a child had been diagnosed with a specific recessive disorder. Instead they studied dozens of data points, observing everything from the children's speech and language development to their frequency of healthcare to their performance at school. Then they used a mathematical model to try to eliminate the impacts of poverty and parental education - so they could focus squarely on the impact on "consanguinity", the scientific word for having parents who are related.
hey found that even after factors like poverty were controlled for, a child of first cousins in Bradford had an 11% probability of being diagnosed with a speech and language problem, versus 7% for children whose parents are not related.
They also found a child of first cousins has a 54% chance of reaching a "good stage of development" (a government assessment given to all five year-olds in England), versus 64% for children whose parents are not related.
We get further insight into their poorer health through the number of visits to the GP. Children of first cousins have a third more primary care appointments than children whose parents are not related - an average of four instead of three a year.
What is notable is that even once you account for the children in that group who already have a diagnosed recessive disorder, the figures suggest consanguinity may be affecting even those children who don't have a diagnosable recessive disorder.
Neil Small, emeritus professor at the University of Br
adford and the author of the study, says that even if all of the children with recessive disorders visited their GP more than average, "this does not explain the much wider distribution of excess health care usage in the consanguineous children".
The study, he says, is "exciting because it gives the opportunity for a much more accurate development of a response, targeting interventions and treatments"
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