<P> There has been a great deal of debate in the past few years in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely . The debate has been prompted by a Pakistani immigrant population making up 1.5% of the British population, of whom about 55% marry a first cousin . For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) Phil Woolas said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "elephant in the room". Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it . However, Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it". Aamra Darr of the University of Leeds has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk . </P> <P> Evidence shows the rate of cousin marriage has increased among British Pakistanis from rates in their parents' generation . </P> <P> Robin Bennett, a University of Washington researcher, has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes discrimination . </P> <P> It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about . People worry about not getting health insurance--but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination ." </P>

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