In the last two years, over 750 Pakistanis have been allowed to settle in Norway, because they have married a Norwegian-Pakistani who lives here. To obtain residence, they must apply to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) for family reunification. news Brennpunkt has had the UDI go through the applications for the first half of 2023. The investigation shows that the women’s independent right to divorce was simply taken away from them when they married in Pakistan. But this is not taken into account when UDI assesses the application to bring a spouse from Pakistan to Norway. Because UDI does not have a mandate for that. – This is absolutely terrible. The rules must be changed at once so that family reunification is not granted when women have been refused a divorce, says parliamentary representative Abid Raja. Abid Raja is a parliamentary representative for the Liberal Party. Women do not have the same right to divorce If a man wants a divorce in Pakistan, he only needs to say “Talak”, which means divorce, three times to his wife. For the divorce to take effect, he must then register it with the authorities within 90 days. A woman, on the other hand, does not have the same right. If the husband does not agree to her wish for a divorce, she must go the family court route with mediation. She can then get a divorce if the man is, for example, violent, impotent or unable to provide for himself. This discrimination led to the women’s movement in Pakistan in the early 1960s having to fight through a separate column in the Pakistani marriage contract, called “Nikahnama”. In the column, the question is asked: “Has the husband given the wife the right to divorce?” The purpose was to give the woman an opportunity to establish a self-determined right to divorce upon entering into the marriage. Now, however, it appears that the vast majority of men answer “no” to the question of whether they would give their wives the right to divorce. Also when one spouse is a Norwegian-Pakistani. This is what a Nikahnama from Pakistan looks like. In point 18 of the marriage contract, one must answer whether the husband has delegated the right to divorce to the wife. 24 of 25 without an independent right to divorce The evidence for this is precisely in the Nikahnamas which are attached to the application for family reunification to the UDI. In as many as 24 of the 25 applications UDI looked at, the right to divorce for the women was deliberately not granted – by the husband or others in the family. – We believe that these figures are representative of all applications from Pakistan and correspond to our opinion that it is quite common not to give women the right to divorce, says Rolf H. Anthonisen in the UDI. Rolf H. Anthonisen is responsible for family immigration at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news This practice does not only apply to women living in Pakistan. Eight of the 24 applications concern Norwegian-Pakistani women living in Norway, who have traveled to Pakistan to get married. In other words, a third of the cases concerned Norwegian women with Pakistani marriage contracts where they are deprived of the right to free divorce. – It is absolutely terrible – It is absolutely terrible that husbands in this way deny women the independent right to divorce already when they get married, says Raja, who sits on the education and research committee at the Storting. Although, according to Norwegian law, the women can apply for a “Norwegian” divorce of their own accord with the State Administrator, the Liberal politician believes that women can easily be governed by what is written in their marriage contract from Pakistan. – The women believe in Islam, life after death and social norms from their home country. Many of them will therefore feel religiously bound by the fact that it is written in their Nikahnama that they cannot divorce, explains Raja. Hadia Tajik, justice policy spokesperson for the Labor Party, is also clear in her speech. – Being able to leave a marriage that doesn’t work should be an obvious right for both women and men – regardless of where in the world the marriage took place, she says. Hadia Tajik is justice policy spokesperson for the Labor Party. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news UDI’s hands tied by the politicians In order to get family reunification with a spouse approved, there are 40 conditions. Everything from valid documents, that the spouse is of legal age, to that the marriage was entered into voluntarily, is set as a condition for the spouse to receive a residence permit in Norway. – If we believe that it is likely that a marriage was entered into under duress, we will refuse family reunification, explains Anthonisen, specialist in family reunification at UDI. Women’s right to divorce, on the other hand, is not a condition set by the Norwegian authorities for bringing a spouse to Norway. – But why does UDI accept this; is it a breach of Norwegian law and the principles of equality? – Yes, but equal right to divorce is not a condition for family immigration. In Norway, as in other countries, we have chosen to accept marriage contracts that have been legally entered into in other countries, Anthonisen replies. – Has gone under the radar – This has gone under the radar, even for me who works a lot with these questions. The rules for family reunification must be changed immediately. We can’t have it like this, says an upset Raja. The leftist believes that the Nikahnamas attached to the applications to the UDI will change overnight, if there is a demand that the woman’s right to divorce must be confirmed there. Hadia Tajik leaves it to her Storting colleague Lene Vågslid in the municipal committee to comment on the conditions for family reunification. – I think one should consider introducing a requirement that women’s right to divorce has not been negotiated away in order to be able to get family reunification in Norway, says Vågslid in the Labor Party. Lene Vågslid is immigration and integration policy spokesperson in the Labor Party. Photo: Bård Nafstad / news Wanted declaration “on honor and conscience” Already 20 years ago, politicians addressed the lack of divorce rights for Muslim women who came to Norway for family reunification. In a proposal, supported by all the parties in the Storting, it was advocated that spouses who were to be reunited in Norway had to give each other a promise. The proposal read as follows: “Each of the bride and groom must declare on their honor and conscience that the marriage was entered into of their own free will, and that they recognize each other’s equal formal right to divorce.” Objections in principle from various quarters, however, meant that the proposal was not taken forward. – It is completely unacceptable that this was not followed up. It is clear that this was just shelved, partly because of objections from religious forces who would not give women this freedom. This is indicative of how we have ended up where we are now, says Frp leader Sylvi Listhaug. She warns that the Progress Party will present a new bill. – It is important that we quickly make the changes that mean that both men and women have the same right to divorce, says Listhaug. Sylvi Listhaug is leader of the Frp. Photo: Kai Rune Kvitstein / news While the Nikahnama in Pakistan actually gives women an opportunity to obtain an agreed equal right to divorce when the marriage is entered into, the situation is worse in other countries. In countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the women’s movement has not progressed as far. – In the Afghan marriage certificate, in most cases there is not a separate point asking whether the woman can get a divorce. Our understanding is that it is unusual for women to obtain an independent right to divorce in Afghanistan, says Anthonisen in UDI. The marriage contract Nikahnama The Pakistani marriage contract consists of two parts. In part 1, personal details etc. must be given. In part 2, conditions for marriage shall be determined: 18. Has the husband delegated the right to divorce to the wife? State any conditions: 19. Are there agreed restrictions on the man’s right to divorce? 20. Is it agreed to pay an amount for maintenance to the woman? 21. Does the man have a wife before? If so, has he received permission to remarry from the Family Mediation Council? 22. Is the man divorced or a widow from before? Does the man have one or more wives from before? Information about children from previous marriages: Name and age of the children. Source: Pakistani state, according to the Marriage Act of 1961. – Not expedient The Ministry of Children and Family Affairs, for its part, sees no reason to change the practice regarding family reunification and women’s right to divorce. They refer to Norwegian law and that all women in Norway have the right to apply for divorce. – Not respecting the rules for divorce in Norway can be complicity in coercion, which is punishable, writes Jonas Kambestad Hågensen, communications advisor in the ministry, in an email. He lists a number of measures that have been initiated to combat negative social control and honour-related violence. And cooperation with religious and life-view communities to strengthen integration, improve equality and increase knowledge of Norwegian law.
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Norwegian-Pakistani men deny women equal divorce rights – news Dokumentar
