GETTY Forced marriage among children is on the rise

FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Forced marriages are supposed to be illegal in Angela Merkel’s nation - but a loophole in the law means officials cannot interfere in religious marriages - which sees hundreds of vulnerable children walk down the aisle. Shocking figures reveal how underage girls are forced by Imams into marriages and disappear from schools because they have to do household chores for their mother-in-laws or even move abroad. The Romani community sometimes marry off 13-year-old girls to 17-year-old boys in ancient ceremonies - in the middle of Germany. Although the exact figures remain a mystery, authorities in Bavaria counted 161 cases of marriage applicants under the age of 16 and 550 cases under the age of 18 by the end of April.

GETTY The young girls will later get pregnant

In North Rhine-Westphalia, there were 188 cases mid-year, in Baden-Württemberg the talk was of 177 underage migrants, in Rheinland-Pfalz of 130 to 150, who had sought asylum in Germany since January 2015. A staggering 3,443 young girls - a third under the age of 18 - visited a counselling centre in Germany for help in respect of being threatened or already forced into marriage in just a year. The youngest girl was nine-years-old. The startling revelations came to light as Mrs Merkel faces calls to change the law because Section 237 of the Criminal Code does not interfere with a religious marriage, like the ones these migrant children are facing. Armin Schuster, chairman of the CDU / CSU in the Bundestag committee says child marriages can only be prevented "when the marriageable age is determined solely by German law”.

Angel Merkel's awkward kisses Wed, June 29, 2016 German chancellor Angela Merkel is certainly one of EU's most powerful women, we take a look through the awkward embraces she has with world leaders. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 17 Angela Merkel's awkward embraces

He said a change in the law is "urgently needed”. Thomas Kutschaty (SPD), Minister of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia, said: "If girls or young women are married, the reason for marriage is only in the rarest cases because they are in love. “This leaves wounds that do not heal for a lifetime." One teenager’s story highlights the plight of underage girls forced into marriage against their will. Now 16, she is now living in Holland after fleeing her controlling father in Germany. She was two-years-old when her family moved to Germany from Iraq and until recently she lived with her fathers and two brothers. After the death of her mother, her father introduced a tough regime and suddenly announced his daughter, at the age of 15, would have to marry a friend of her uncle, an Iraqi in his mid 30s. The 36-year-old oil worker would travel to Germany where an Imam would marry the couple in a mosque. The teenager says she had no choice but the escape.

GETTY Angela Merkel is facing calls to change marriage laws

Explaining why she is in Holland, she said: “I can't go to school at the moment. And I'm always afraid that someone from my family sees me. "I knew that I could either flee or die." But she one day hope to return to Germany, adding: "Germany is my home, I can hardly remember Iraq.” Marc Dullaert from the Task Force, Children on the Move, said: "We are seeing that the number of children who are forcibly married is increasing enormously.” Sharia Law is rife in Germany and authorities are trying to deal with the growing number of child brides who were already married abroad. Among Syrians in half of all marriages one spouse is younger than 18 years, according to the charity SOS Children's Villages. Before the war it was only 13 per cent.

GETTY Girls as young as 9 are being forced into marriage