AMSTERDAM - Imams in the Netherlands have signed a declaration against the practice of female circumcision, Dutch research and consultancy institute Pharos announced on Thursday.
The signing took place following a lecture by Abbas Khadar, an authoritative Muslim leader affiliated with Cairo-based al-Azhar University, who said that Islam does not propagate female circumcision.
Pharos, which specialises in health care issues among refugees, says most female circumcisions occur among Muslims from Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Pharos estimates 16,000 girls in the Netherlands run the risk of being forced to undergo circumcision.
Dutch law has prohibited the practice and defines it as abuse.