Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL]

Yes, I can. I was in India last week, and forced marriage was one of the issues that I discussed with the Government and with the National Commission for Women. To give the noble Lord an indication, over the next few weeks the High Commission in India will be visiting 700 villages in the Punjab with posters, copies of which I can show the noble Lord, to raise the issue and to invite people, where UK nationals are involved, to come forward to get support from the High Commission. In India last year, some 10 UK nationals were returned as a result of some element of forced marriage. As the noble Lord will know, in Bangladesh and Pakistan we have people who bring back UK nationals involved. I mentioned those three countries because I have information on them, not to try to identify them as being the only countries where we have issues. The noble Lord, Lord Lester, referred to the fact that I am the justice Minister who sits on the Justice and Home Affairs Council in the European Union. I hope to raise this issue with my colleagues across the European Union and with the European Commission in Brussels. The importance of the work that we do internationally should not be underestimated for a moment. The Forced Marriage Unit deals with this in an exemplary fashion, and it gets a lot of co-operation from Governments. There are issues in terms of the judicial systems in other Governments, and we are talking to the judiciary about how to encourage and promote better relationships through government discussions. When I was in India, the Indian Government were keen to raise particular issues that they were worried about. A good dialogue has been established, and we will continue that. Good work is already being done. Obviously I cannot comment on individual cases; the noble Lord would not expect me to do so. We need to enhance the good work that is being done and ensure that we are working government to government and judiciary to judiciary. We also want to ensure that we offer practical support on the ground for those whom we wish to bring home.