What changed

B100347/2026

B100349/2026

European Parliament resolution on the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria ShahbazShahbaz, and the protection of religious minority girls in Pakistan

(2026/2801(RSP))

having regard to ‘The Rape Gang Inquiry Report’, published in June 2026,

– having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to Rule 150 (5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Christian girl from Lahore, disappeared in July 2025 and later appeared before Pakistani courts claiming to have voluntarily converted to Islam and married a 30-year-old Muslim man; whereas her family maintains that these statements were made under coercion; whereas earlier findings indicated that Maria Shahbaz’s marriage documents were falsified; whereas Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court granted custody to the alleged abductor in February 2026, raising serious concerns among human rights organisations;

A. whereas Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Pakistani Christian girl, was abducted from her home in July 2025, then forcibly converted to Islam and married against her will to a 30-year-old Muslim man;

B. whereas Pakistan continues to face persistent reports of the abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage of underage Christian and Hindu girls; whereas civil society organisations have documented hundreds of such cases in recent years;

B. whereas on 25 March 2026, the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan upheld the marriage, concluding that the conversion to Islam was voluntary and that the girl appeared to be an adult; whereas the court declared that Maria Shahbaz could legally remain with the man who abducted her and ruled that the marriage is governed by Islamic law;

C. whereas Punjab adopted the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 2026 raising the minimum marriage age to eighteen; whereas effective implementation remains insufficient;

C. whereas abductions of girls across Pakistan are often tied to trafficking, rape, forced marriages and forced labour;

D. whereas a Dutch woman and her friend were recently kidnapped, raped and extorted in Lahore; whereas Pakistani police arrested the grandson of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as a perpetrator;

D. whereas for decades, organised grooming gangs have systematically sexually exploited at least 250,000 white British underage girls across the United Kingdom; whereas around 84 % of the perpetrators were Muslim men, predominantly of Pakistani heritage;

E. whereas Pakistan benefits from GSP+ preferences, which are conditional upon the effective implementation of core international human rights conventions;

E. whereas in mid-2026, German police established a specialised task force to dismantle a grooming network active around the Nürnberg Central Station, targeting German teenage girls, forcing them into the narcotics trade and sexual exploitation;

1. Strongly condemns the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and similar abuses against girls in Pakistan; condemns furthermore all acts of violence, Islamic coercion and discrimination directed against Pakistan’s religious minorities;

Expresses its solidarity with the victims and families affected by forced marriages and conversions;

2. Condemns the longstanding failure of the Pakistani authorities to effectively prevent, investigate and prosecute these crimes; calls on the Pakistani authorities to protect religious minorities from violence, intimidation, and Islamic coercion; calls for the immediate protection of Maria Shahbaz and for her to be immediately reunited with her family, a transparent review of her case and accountability for all those responsible;

Considers that the case of Maria Shahbaz is part of a continued and widespread pattern of abduction, forced conversion and marriage of girls from religious minority communities, particularly Christians and Hindus;

3. Calls on Pakistan to effectively implement the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 2026, eradicate child marriage, and provide effective protection and legal remedies for victims and their families;

Considers that the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling not only represents a grave injustice in Maria Shahbaz’ case but that it also shapes a dangerous message, further encouraging and and legitimising abductions and child marriages and weakening protections for vulnerable minority girls across Pakistan;

4. Expresses deep concern that Pakistan's blasphemy laws continue to foster a climate of fear and facilitate abuses against religious minorities; calls for the abolition of blasphemy laws, including the death penalty;

Calls on the Pakistani government to ensure the immediate and safe return of abducted girls to their families of origin and to prosecute those who use religious conversion for the crime of abduction;

5. Urges the judiciary to uphold due process and protect victims, witnesses, lawyers and judges from intimidation;

Is concerned that the poor enforcement of existing laws creates widespread impunity; calls therefore, on the Pakistani government to ensure robust enforcement of child protection and anti-child-marriage laws, including legislative reforms aimed at raising the minimum marriage age;

6. Condemns the serious institutional failures and crimes exposed by the UK’s inquiry reports, which found that numerous prominent grooming gangs were composed of men of Pakistani Muslim heritage; stresses that child protection must always prevail over political, cultural or religious sensitivities;

Encourages the Pakistani government to enact judicial safeguards that prioritise verifiable age determination, free consent and protection from intimidation;

7. Strongly condemns the brutal kidnapping, rape and extortion of the Dutch and Venezuelan women in Lahore; demands Pakistani authorities bring the perpetrators to justice and hold them to account with the full force of the law;

Emphasises that the child sexual exploitation scandal in the UK illustrates the danger that uncontrolled mass migration poses for women and girls in Europe; encourages the EU Member States to tackle the rise in sex crimes and criminal networks, to follow a ‘zero tolerance approach’ and to prioritise the expulsion of foreign national child offenders;

8. Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to closely assess Pakistan’s compliance with GSP+ conditionality, and consider if appropriate measures under the GSP framework should be taken given the continued serious and persistent violations;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, government and parliament of Pakistan.

9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the relevant parties.