British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged £20 million, or $28.5 million, to fund English classes for tens of thousands of Muslim women migrants. The PM believes that building stronger national cohesion will solve extremism.
In a report by Mashable, Cameron said that passive tolerance of discrimination should end. He added that language skills will be included in the visa applications. He said Britain can't be united "unless we are more assertive about our liberal values, more clear about the expectations we place on those who come to live here and ... generous in the work we do to break down barriers."
In England, there are some 190,000 Muslim women who speak little or no English, according to a report by The Hindu. Cameron believes that if Muslim immigrant children are not taught the English language, they could be prone to radicalisation. He advised migrants to improve their English or risk getting deported.
"At the moment, someone can move here with very basic English and there's no requirement to improve it over time. We will change that," Said Cameron. "We will now say -- if you don't improve your fluency, that could affect your ability to stay in the U.K. This will help make it clear to those men who stop their partners from integrating that there are consequences."
Daily Mail UK wrote that Cameron received criticism, even from members of his own party. These critics challenged him to link the lack of ability to speak English to extremism. Social isolation and gender segregation is not only unique to Muslims, but Cameron did not mention other groups as part of the English skills program.
There are already 800 Britons who reached Syria, and another 600 were caught trying to enter the Middle Eastern country.
Germany is another country that imposes a language test for prospective spouses, which was implemented in 2007. The Netherlands and Austria also impose the same tests for migrants.
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