Cambodia: After Vietnam Cracks Down On Marriage Brokers, South Koreans
Turn To Cambodia To Buy Wives
News 2008-03-25 18:12
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: The brides-to-be are brought down from poor
Cambodian villages and herded into city hotels, where they are lined
up and put on display for prospective grooms flown in from South
Korea.
Over the past four years, some 2,500 women have wedded South Korean
men, passing through an underground matchmaking business that few in
Cambodia knew existed until recently.
A re****t to be released next month by the Geneva-based International
Organization for Migration sheds light on the growing phenomenon. A
crackdown on marriage brokers in neighboring Vietnam is pu****ng the
activity into Cambodia, according to the re****t, an advance copy of
which was obtained by The Associated Press.
"It's become a big business," said John McGeoghan, an IOM project
coordinator in Cambodia. "We now see that these marriage brokers are
popping up in Cambodia. This is a new market for them, and there's a
lot of money to be made."
Potential grooms re****tedly pay brokers up to US$20,000, the IOM
re****t says. The bride's family receives at most US$1,000, with the
rest pocketed by brokers. It is unclear how many are now operating in
Cambodia.
The grooms, mostly factory workers and farmers, have trouble finding
wives in South Korea because they are low-income earners, IOM says.
Although some of the marriages prove successful, others herald
loneliness, broken promises, divorce and sometimes violence, the
re****t says.
Kim In-Kook, a South Korean embassy official, confirmed that the
number of marriage visas issued to Cambodian brides soared from 72 in
2004 to 1,759 last year. He declined further comment.
Growing South Korean investment and tourism in Cambodia is also
playing "a significant role in the expansion of transnational
marriages" between the two countries, the IOM re****t says.
Cambodia's government publicly acknowledged the issue for the first
time this month, apparently alarmed that it could slide into human
trafficking, in which women are tricked or forced into marriage.
Earlier this month, the Interior Ministry announced it was canceling
licenses of two South Korean companies for engaging in the matchmaking
business. The firms had registered as ex****t-im****t firms to secure
legal entry into the country, a ministry official said on condition of
anonymity because he is not authorized to release information.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng denounced the firms' activities as "human
trafficking."
Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke out on the problem shortly after, telling
law enforcement agencies to be stricter in issuing marriage
certificates "to prevent deceptive activities." He also urged parents
"not to be so easygoing" about sending their daughters into brokered
marriages with foreigners.
Traditionally, marriages in Cambodia are arranged by parents. Now,
brokers are approaching Cambodian families. If interested, the
families provide photos of their daughters, which are sent to South
Korea or posted on Web sites, the IOM re****t says.
Brokers arrange 4-to-6 day marriage tours to Cambodia for prospective
grooms, most of whom have expressed interest in more than one woman,
the re****t says. The men are ushered through something akin to
underground speed-dating, followed by a marriage ceremony.
"Most of the matchmaking occurs in restaurants or small hotels located
in or near Phnom Penh," the re****t says, referring to Cambodia's
capital city. "There the men typically select a bride from as many as
100 who are made available."
The women are mostly in their late teens and early 20s, attracted by
promises of high living standards and money, the re****t says.
It cites one marriage in which a South Korean man promised to make
monthly remittances to his bride's family, but was too poor to keep
the promise. "This caused tension and arguments that resulted in
domestic violence," the re****t says.
The woman is seeking divorce, but has received threats from the
Cambodian marriage brokers, who have told her she would be charged US
$1,000 if she returns and her parents would be harmed, the re****t
says.
"It's not as romantic and wonderful as (the women) thought it would
be," McGeoghan said. (By KER MUNTHIT/ AP)
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