{"id":1614,"date":"2019-01-14T21:55:40","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T21:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/?p=1614"},"modified":"2019-01-14T21:55:40","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T21:55:40","slug":"huge-relief-as-loans-scrapped-for-forced-marriage-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/huge-relief-as-loans-scrapped-for-forced-marriage-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Huge relief&#8217; as loans scrapped for forced marriage victims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Campaigners tell Sky News a &#8220;massive burden&#8221; has been lifted, after Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt intervenes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sdc-news-story-article__intro\">Victims of forced marriages brought back to the UK will no longer be asked to take out a loan to repay the cost of their rescue.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-news-story-article__body\">\n<p>Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the charge would be scrapped immediately after outrage from MPs and charities when it was exposed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--teads\">\n<div class=\"sdc-site-au \" data-ad-format=\"teads\" data-type=\"\" data-advert-rendered=\"4x4\">\n<div id=\"teads\" class=\"sdc-site-au__teads\" data-role=\"ad-container\" data-config=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;teads&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;20346936\\\/skynews\\\/politics\\\/content&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:{&quot;mobile&quot;:[[4,4]],&quot;desktop&quot;:[[4,4]]},&quot;targeting&quot;:{&quot;platform&quot;:&quot;live&quot;,&quot;artId&quot;:11603910}}\" data-targeting-strnativekey=\"\" data-targeting-platform=\"\" data-tag=\"\" data-component-name=\"sdc-site-mpu\" aria-label=\"Advertisement\" data-tolerance=\"2\" data-slot-called=\"1\" data-google-query-id=\"CKimqJGh7t8CFaiE7QodLxYIOg\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_20346936\/skynews\/politics\/content_1__container__\"><iframe id=\"google_ads_iframe_20346936\/skynews\/politics\/content_1\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" name=\"google_ads_iframe_20346936\/skynews\/politics\/content_1\" width=\"4\" height=\"4\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-google-container-id=\"3\" data-load-complete=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Victims returning home were previously required to pay for their plane tickets, basic food and shelter &#8211; or take out a loan with the Foreign Office.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"sdc-site-outbrain sdc-site-outbrain--AR_6\">\n<div id=\"outbrain_widget_0\" class=\"OUTBRAIN\" data-src=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/huge-relief-as-loans-scrapped-for-forced-marriage-victims-11603910\" data-widget-id=\"AR_6\" data-ob-template=\"bskyb\" data-ob-mark=\"true\" data-browser=\"chrome\" data-os=\"macintel\" data-dynload=\"\" data-idx=\"0\">\n<div class=\"ob_box_cont CR_6\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>One was billed \u00a3814 to be repatriated to the UK from life in a forced marriage in Islamabad, Pakistan, and had to give up her passport until the fee was paid.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation, first reported by The Times, prompted a fierce backlash.<\/p>\n<p>One MP likened it to the Windrush scandal, while another branded it part of a &#8220;cruel system of bureaucracy&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Hunt, writing to the foreign affairs select committee, said forced marriage victims would now be treated as &#8220;exceptionally vulnerable people&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;From now on, none of those who are assisted by the forced marriage unit, and would previously have been offered a loan, will have to cover the costs of their repatriation,&#8221; said the foreign secretary.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/huge-relief-as-loans-scrapped-for-forced-marriage-victims-11603910\">https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/huge-relief-as-loans-scrapped-for-forced-marriage-victims-11603910<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Campaigners tell Sky News a &#8220;massive burden&#8221; has been lifted, after Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt intervenes. Victims of forced marriages brought back to the UK will no longer be asked to take out a loan to repay the cost of their rescue. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the charge would be scrapped immediately after outrage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1615,"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions\/1615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haloproject.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}