Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende wants to forbid marriages between first cousins, the Dutch news agency ANP reported Thursday.

By Jennifer Evans for Expatica -

Speaking to the lower house of parliament, the prime minister said he wants to forbid first cousins' marriages between Dutch citizens, as well as Dutch citizens with foreign partners.

The move is partly aimed at stemming the flow of import brides to the Netherlands, namely those brought by Turkish or Moroccan immigrants in which marriages between cousins are not unusual. In 2008, about 30 percent of 140,000 migrants who entered the Netherlands were import brides from Turkey and Morocco. There is no data available on how many of those women were first cousins of their husbands. Trouw daily reported in April that 25 percent of the Turkish and Moroccan married couples living in Rotterdam were marriages between genetically related people.

The new law will not apply retroactively to cousins who are already married.

Limiting import brides
In addition to the new law, Mr Balkenende aimed to put more restrictions on importing foreign brides to the Netherlands. Mr Balkenende wants the inburgering (integration) exam for immigrants to be comparable to the compulsory education level in the Netherlands.

Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan will provide more information in a proposal. In June 2009, daily de Telegraaf reported Mr Van der Laan “wants to end the inflow of unskilled marriage candidates because it negates all the energy and money invested in integration”.