London (CNN)British women sent overseas by their families for forced marriages are being asked by the UK Foreign Office to pay back their rescue costs, according to an investigation by the UK’s Times newspaper.
Victims are in some cases being forced to pay back hundreds of pounds for airfares, food and shelter, in a move criticized by politicians and rights groups.
The Foreign Office said in a statement to CNN that as the rescue costs were from “public funds” it had an “obligation to recover the money in due course.”
